Resource configuration schemes for an integrated access and backhaul distributed unit

ABSTRACT

Resource allocation is provided for an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) network, such as a distributed unit (DU) of an IAB. Methods and systems include configuring one or more resources to allocate time-domain or frequency domain availability/utilization. Configurations of resources can be aligned between one or more nodes such that resource availability of a first node can be coupled to resources of a second node. Allocated resources can include uplink, downlink, and flexible resources. Allocated resources can be indicated as not available, hard, or soft resource types. A configuration pattern can indicate a sequence of time-domain resource or frequency domain resource availability of a DU in the IAB network.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/804,632, filed on Feb. 12, 2019, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

FIELD

Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wirelesscommunications.

SUMMARY

Resource allocation for an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) networkis provided for distributed units (DUs). In an IAB network, an IAB nodecan: (i) connect to its parent node (e.g., an IAB donor, another IABnode, etc.) through a parent backhaul (BH) link; (ii) connect to a childuser equipment (UE) through a child access (AC) link; and (iii) connectto its child IAB node through a child BH link. According to someembodiments, a control unit (CU, also referred to as a central unit) ofan IAB can signal resource allocations to one or more of a distributedunit, such as an IAB node, a mobile termination (MT) of an IAB node, ora user equipment (UE) of an IAB node.

In some embodiments, configuration of the IAB node allocates a downlinktime resource (D), an uplink time resource (U), or a flexible timeresource (F) is a not available time resource (NA), a hard time resource(H), or a soft time resource (S). In some embodiments, radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling is performed between the CU in the IAB donor andthe UE or MT. In some embodiments, F1 Application Protocol (F1AP)signaling is used between the CU and the DU in an IAB node.

Embodiments described herein include methods and systems for configuringindications of various resources, such as time-domain resources, for anIAB DU. In some embodiments, resource types for an IAB DU (i.e., an IABnode or an IAB donor) are defined. According to some embodiments, amethod includes determining or causing to determine that a downlink timeresource (D), an uplink time resource (U), or a flexible time resource(F) is a not available time resource (NA), a hard time resource (H), ora soft time resource (S). In some embodiments, the result of thedetermination using an application protocol (F1AP) is indicated orcaused to be indicated by a signaling technique or a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling technique from an IAB donor to an IAB DU. TheIAB DU can refer to a DU of an IAB node, a mobile termination (MT) of anIAB node, or a user equipment (UE) of an IAB node.

Embodiments include allocating one or more resources in an integratedaccess and backhaul (IAB) network. Methods and systems for allocatingone or more resources include defining, by a first IAB node, a per-linksemi-static configuration of availability of resources to provide aspecific configuration of resource availability for child links in adistributed unit (DU) of the IAB network; and aligning the availabilityof resources of the first IAB node and a second IAB node based on theper-link semi-static configuration of the availability of resources. Insome embodiments, methods include determining, by the first IAB node, astatus of the availability of resources to be one of a not availableresource (NA), a hard resource (H), and a soft resource (S); andsignaling, by the first IAB node, the status to an other DU in the IABnetwork.

In some embodiments, the defining the per-link semi-static configurationincludes allocating one or more of an uplink resource, a downlinkresource, and a flexible resource. The defining the per-link semi-staticconfiguration further includes defining flexible resource availabilityto explicitly include one or more of a flexible downlink resourceindication, a flexible uplink indication, and a not availableindication. The defining the per-link semi-static configuration furtherincludes defining flexible resource availability to implicitly includeone or more of a flexible downlink resource indication, a flexibleuplink indication, and a not available indication. In some embodiments,the first IAB node is the DU. In some embodiments, the defining theper-link semi-static configuration includes defining availability of oneor more resources of the first IAB node. In some embodiments, thedefining the per-link semi-static configuration includes definingavailability of one or more resources of the second IAB node. In someembodiments, defining the per-link semi-static configuration includesdefining availability of at least one of the resources by an implicitindication. In some embodiments, defining the per-link semi-staticconfiguration includes allocating one or more of a hard-uplink resource,a hard-downlink resource, a hard-flexible resource, a soft-uplinkresource, a soft-downlink resource, and a soft-flexible resource. Insome embodiments, an indication is provided of availability of ahard-downlink resource, a hard-uplink resource, a hard-flexibleresource, a soft-downlink resource, a soft-uplink resource, and asoft-flexible resource. In some embodiments, defining the per-linksemi-static configuration includes defining a configuration pattern thatindicates a sequence of time-domain resource or frequency domainresource utilization of the DU.

According to some embodiments, systems for allocating resources of anIAB DU include a memory that stores a configuration of availability ofresources of the DU; and a processor configured to define resourceavailability of the DU based on the configuration of the availability ofresources. In some embodiments, systems further include a transmitterconfigured to transmit a signal via the IAB network based on theconfiguration of the availability of resources; a receiver configured toreceive a signal via the IAB network based on the configuration of theavailability of resources.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstores instructions for execution by one or more processors of one ormore integrated access and backhaul (IAB) distributed units (DUs). Theone or more processors configured to, when the instructions areexecuted: define a per-link semi-static configuration of availability ofresources to provide a specific configuration of resource availabilityfor child links in a first IAB DU; align the availability of resourcesof the one or more IAB DUs based on the per-link semi-staticconfiguration of the availability of resources; determine a status ofthe availability of resources to be one of a not available resource(NA), a hard resource (H), and a soft resource (S); and signal thestatus to a second IAB DU.

In some embodiments, allocating the not available and hard resourcesenable resource coordination to mitigate cross-link interference (CIA),or resource coordination, among different hops to meet the half-duplexconstraint at an IAB node. In some embodiments, allocating the softresources for an IAB DU permits the child links to utilize resourceseither when the parent link is not using the resources+ or when thegrand-child link is not using the resources.

According to embodiments described herein, the semi-static configurationfor an IAB DU can provide any and all possible combinations ofD/U/F/H/S/NA allocations. In some embodiments, resource coordination canbe aligned between IAB DUs, such as between an IAB node and an IABdonor. Semi-static signaling methods regarding the three new resourcetypes, hard/soft/not available (H/S/NA), are available and can be usedto explicitly indicate resource types. In some embodiments, semi-staticconfiguration for an IAB DU is provided including D/U/F/NA/H/Sconfigurations together for each child link of the IAB DU.

According to some embodiments, per-link based NA configuration at oneIAB DU can allocate resources to mitigate interference. In someembodiments, the hard downlink/hard uplink (H-D/H-U) configuration at aDU can map to each of the child link's DX configuration, in someembodiments, soft pool configuration (S) at a DU can be provided in aper-link configuration such that the soft resource pool for eachC-UE/C-MT can be different depending on the D/U/F configuration of thatC-UE/C-MT.

In some embodiments, a per-link D/U/F configuration is aligned with eachchild link's D/U/F configuration and no additional per-link D/U/Fconfiguration is needed for the DU. In other embodiments, theconfiguration is not coupled between DUs. In some embodiments, any ofS/NA/H are indicated on F resources. In some embodiments, H/S/NA areindicated on D/U/F resources, aligned with a C-MT/C-UE of a DU.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIGS. 1A and 1B depict an IAB CU/DU architecture and signaling inaccordance with aspects of described herein;

FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration of resource types allocated in a DUof an IAB network, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a configuration of resource types allocated in a DUof an IAB network, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a configuration of resource types allocated in a DUof an IAB network, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates a configuration of resource types allocated in a DUof an IAB network, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates a configuration of resource types allocated in a DUof an IAB network, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates a configuration of resource types allocated in a DUof an IAB network, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates a configuration of resource types allocated in a DUof an IAB network, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates a configuration of resource types allocated in a DUof an IAB network, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates a configuration of resource types allocated in a DUof an IAB network, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 11 depicts an architecture of a system of a network in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 12 depicts an architecture of a system including a first corenetwork in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 13 depicts an architecture of a system including a second corenetwork in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 14 depicts an example of infrastructure equipment in accordancewith various embodiments;

FIG. 15 depicts example components of a computer platform in accordancewith various embodiments;

FIG. 16 depicts example components of baseband circuitry and radiofrequency circuitry in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 17 is an illustration of various protocol functions that may beused for various protocol stacks in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 18 illustrates components of a core network in accordance withvarious embodiments;

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someembodiments, of a system to support NFV;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating components able to readinstructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g.,a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed herein, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 21A through 21C illustrate process flow diagrams of a method forresource allocation of a DU in an IAB network, in accordance withvarious embodiments;

FIG. 22 illustrates a process flow diagram of a method for communicatinga configuration of resource allocation of a DU in an IAB network, inaccordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identifythe same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposesof explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth suchas particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects ofvarious embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the variousaspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examplesthat depart from these specific details. In certain instances,descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted soas not to obscure the description of the various embodiments withunnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrase“A or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B).

For an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) distributed unit (DU), thesemi-static resource configuration can take downlink/uplink/flexible/notavailable/hard/soft (D/U/F/NA/H/S) and all possible combinations intoaccount. In U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/790,386, semi-staticsignaling methods can be used for the three new resource types: NA/H/S.These semi-static signaling methods are capable of explicitly indicatingthree or two or one of the three new resource types. Embodimentsdescribed herein are a further extension of the inventive concepts setforth in U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/790,386. For example,embodiments described herein consider semi-static configuration for anIAB DU in a way that includes D/U/F/NA/H/S and their possiblecombinations together for each child link of the IAB DU. Embodimentsdescribed herein are also directed to different per-link semi-staticconfiguration schemes for an IAB DU.

In an IAB network, an LAB node can: (i) connect to its parent node(e.g., an IAB donor, another IAB node, etc.) through a parent backhaul(BH) link; (ii) connect to a child user equipment (UE) through a childaccess (AC) link; and (iii) connect to its child IAB node through achild BH link.

In current IAB network architectures, a central unit (CU) or distributedunit (DU) split has been leveraged, where each IAB node holds a DU and aMobile-Termination (MT) function: (i) via the MT function, the IAB nodeconnects to its parent IAB node or the IAB donor like a UE; and (ii) viathe DU function, the IAB node communicates with its child UEs and childMTs like a base station. Radio resource control (RRC) signaling is usedbetween the CU in the IAB donor and the UE or MT, while F1 ApplicationProtocol (F1AP) signaling is used between the CU and the DU in an IABnode.

An example of the IAB CU/DU split architecture and signaling isillustrated in FIG. 1, where: (i) an MT and a DU in a parent IAB node isshown as a P-MT and a P-DU, respectively; (ii) an MT and a DU is shownin a child IAB node as a C-MT and a C-DU, respectively; and (iii) achild UE is shown as a C-UE.

In IAB Study Item (SI), the following statements on time-domain resourceallocation have been assumed:

-   -   From an MT point-of-view, the following time-domain resources        can be indicated for the parent link as in NR Release-15        (D/U/F):        -   downlink time resource (D);        -   uplink time resource (U); and        -   flexible time resource (F).    -   From a DU point-of-view, the child link has the following types        of time-domain resources (D/U/F/NA):        -   downlink time resource (D);        -   uplink time resource (U);            -   flexible time resource (F); and            -   not available time resource (NA), which is not to be                used for communication on the DU child links.    -   For each of the D, U, and F of the DU child link, there are two        flavors: hard and soft (H/S):        -   hard, where the corresponding time resource (e.g., U, F,            etc.) is always available for the DU child link; and        -   soft, where the availability of the corresponding time            resource (e.g., D, U, F, etc.) for the DU child link is            explicitly and/or implicitly controlled by the parent node.

In addition, the following agreements on resource allocation for DU havebeen made:

-   -   at least existing resource definitions (e.g., D/U/F, etc.) and        semi-static and dynamic signaling methods defined in Rel-15, for        example, for access UEs are reused for configuration and        indication of MT resources to be used by the BH link between the        IAB node and its parent node.    -   IAB node DU or IAB donor DU resources are provided by a        semi-static configuration that is provided separately from the        MT resource indication:        -   For father study (FFS): whether the configuration is            per-link or per-DU; and        -   FFS: details for the configuration.

From MT or UE point of view, semi-static and dynamic indication of D/U/Ftime-domain resource allocation can be supported in a Rel-15 design, forexample. For semi-static indication, RRC signalingtdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon for cell-specific configuration andidd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated for UE-specific configuration can beused; and for dynamic indication, the combination of RRC signalingSlotFormatIndicator and DCI format 2_0 can be used. Taking the examplein FIG. 1:

the D/U/F time resource indication to MT will be used for parent BHlink;

the D/U/F time resource indication to C-MT will be used for child BHlink; and

the D/U/F time resource indication to C-UE will be used for child AClink.

For the new resource types not available/hard/soft (NA/H/S) defined foran IAB DU (located at an IAB node or IAB donor), the not available andhard resources may be present for either resource coordination tomitigate cross-link interference (CLI) or resource coordination amongdifferent hops to meet the half-duplex constraint at an IAB node. Thesoft resources may be present at an IAB DU for the child links eitherwhen the parent link is not using the resources or when the grand-childlink is not using the resources. The soft resource pool can besemi-statically informed to the IAB DU, while the availability of thesoft resources among the soft resource pool can be dynamicallyindicated.

Hence, for an IAB DU, the semi-static configuration can takeD/U/F/H/S/NA and all possible combinations into account. Semi-staticsignaling methods regarding the three new resource types, hard/soft/notavailable (H/S/NA), are available and can be used to explicitly indicatethree or two or one of the three new resource types. Embodimentsdescribed herein consider semi-static configuration for an IAB DU in amore general way that includes D/U/F/NA/H/S and their possiblecombinations together for each child link of the IAB DU.

Per-Link Based Semi-Static Configuration Schemes for an IAB DU

Semi-static resource configuration regardingdownlink/uplink/flexible/not available/hard/soft pool (D/U/F/NA/H/S) canbe indicated through the following two signaling options:

Introduce new F1AP signaling from the CU of IAB donor to the DU of theIAB node;

Introduce new RRC signaling from the CU of IAB donor to the MT of theIAB node.

Regarding the per-link (specific configuration for each child link ofone DU) or per-DU (configured as a whole for one DU) semi-staticconfiguration for an IAB DU, firstly, per-link based NA configuration atone IAB DU can tailor the resource allocation for each child link forthe purpose of interference management. Secondly, the hard downlink/harduplink (H-D/H-U) configuration at a DU can map to each of the childlink's D/U configuration. Thirdly, the soft resource pool for eachC-UE/C-MT can be different depending on the D/U/F configuration of thatC-UE/C-MT, hence soft pool configuration (S) at a DU can also beper-link configuration. Based on the above, semi-static configurationregarding D/U/F/NA/H/S for an IAB DU can be per-link based (e.g.,specific configuration for each child link of one DU).

Embodiments described herein include several schemes regarding how toindicate those different types of resources, such as time-domainresources, for an IAB DU. Exemplary processes for resource coordinationare described in FIGS. 21A through 21C. For example, an embodiment of aresource coordination process 2100 is illustrated in FIG. 21A. Atoperation 2102, one or more resources of a DU are configured in an IABnetwork. For example, time-domain resources can be defined D/U/F andallocated for availability based on the configuration operation of 2102.At operation 2104, communication by the IAB DU in the IAB network occursbased on the configuration of the one or more resources.

In another embodiment of a resource coordination process 2110illustrated in FIG. 21B, the process includes aligning resourceallocation between nodes, such as between a parent node and a childnode. At operation 2112, one or more resources of a DU are configured inan IAB network. At operation 2114, resource allocation is alignedbetween DUs, such as between a child and DU parent. At operation 2116,communication in the IAB network proceeds according to the configurationof the one or more resources.

In another embodiment of a resource coordination process 2120illustrated in FIG. 21C, the process includes aligning and signalingresource allocation between nodes, such as between a parent node and achild node. At operation 2112, defining, by a first IAB node, a per-linksemi-static configuration of availability of resources to provide aspecific configuration of resource availability for child links in adistributed unit (DU) of the LAB network is performed. At operation2124, aligning the availability of resources of the first IAB node and asecond IAB node based on the per-link semi-static configuration of theavailability of resources is performed. At operation 2126, determiningis performed, by the first IAB node, a status of the availability ofresources to be one of a not available resource (NA), a hard resource(H), and a soft resource (S). At operation 2128, signaling is performed,by the first IAB node, the status to an other DU in the IAB network. Insome embodiments, the other DU can be the second node.

As noted above, resource allocation may be performed by a semi-staticresource configuration in an integrated access and backhaul (IAB)network. According to some embodiments, the configuration can beindicated or caused to be indicated using an F1 application protocol(F1AP) signaling technique or a radio resource control (RRC) signalingtechnique from a control unit (CU) of an IAB donor to an IAB DU.

Scheme 1:

An IAB DU's per-link semi-static configuration only considers H/S/NAindication, where the per-link D/U/F configuration is aligned with eachchild link's D/U/F configuration and no additional per-link D/U/Fconfiguration is needed for the DU.

In this scheme, as each child (C-MT or C-UE) of an IAB DU will have itsown D/U/F configuration and this information is known to the LAB DU, theper-link D/U/F configuration at the IAB DU is aligned with each childlink's D/U/F configuration and no additional per-link D/U/Fconfiguration is needed for the DU.

Then, an IAB DU's semi-static configuration only considers per-linkH/S/NA indication, which can have the following options.

-   -   Option 1A: DU's per-link semi-static configuration considers        S/NA indication on F resources. (C-MT/C-UE's D/U resources are        hard resources and there is no additional hard (H) indication        for DU).    -   Option 1B: DU's per-link semi-static configuration considers        H/S/NA indication on F resources. (C-MT/C-UE's D/U resources are        hard resources but there is additional Hard (H) indication on        flexible resources).    -   Option 1C: DU's per-link semi-static configuration considers        H/S/NA indication on D/U/F resources that aligned with a        C-MT/C-UE.

Option 1A: DU's Per-Link Semi-Static Configuration Considers S/NAIndication Only on Flexible Resources:

C-MT/C-UE's D/U resources are considered as hard resources at theC-MT/C-UE and are available for child DL/UL transmission. DU's D/Uresources map 1:1 to C-MT/C-UE's D/U resources. There is no additionalindication about hard (H) resources for DU semi-static configuration.DU's per-link semi-static configuration considers S/NA indication onflexible resources.

Several schemes on the details of semi-static S/NA indication arepossible. They are:

Scheme 1A-1: Indicate S/NA for the flexible resources:

In this scheme, based on the per-link D/U/F configuration at an IAB DUthat is aligned with its child D/U/F configuration, the D/U resourcesare hard (according to the definition of Option 1A). The semi-staticconfiguration includes an S/NA indication on the F resources withoutDL/UL details for the soft indication. Resource allocation 200 of Scheme1A-1 is illustrated in FIG. 2.

Scheme 1A-2: Indicate S-D/S-U/NA for the flexible resources.

Compared with Scheme 1A-1, the DL/UL directions regarding soft (S)resource pool are explicitly indicated for the flexible resources, asillustrated by resource allocation 300 in FIG. 3. The per-linksemi-static configuration for an IAB DU includes S-D/S-U/NA indicationon the flexible resources.

Scheme 1A-3: Indicate S-D/S-U/S-F/NA for the flexible resources.

Compared with Scheme 1A-1 and Scheme 1A-2, the soft (S) resource poolfor the flexible resources can be further detailed into soft-downlink(S-D), soft-uplink (S-U), and soft-flexible (S-F). Those details areexplicitly indicated for the flexible resources, also as shown byresource allocation 400 illustrated in FIG. 4. The per-link semi-staticconfiguration for an IAB DU includes S-D/S-U/S-F/NA indication on theflexible resources.

Scheme 1A-4: Indicate S-D/S-U/NA for the flexible resources andimplicitly indicate S-F.

In Scheme 1A-4, the soft (S) resource pool for the flexible resourcesare also further detailed into soft-downlink (S-D), soft-uplink (S-U),and soft-flexible (S-F). Compared with Scheme 1A-3, S-D/S-F/S-U isassumed to follow some configuration pattern (“DL-F-UL” or “UL-F-DL”).For example, for the DL-F-UL configuration pattern in current NRspecifications technical specification (TS) 38.213 and TS 38.331, anindication of an S-D in the beginning and S-U in the end may beprovided, where the resources in between the S-D and S-U are S-F (whichis indicated implicitly). For the UL-F-DL configuration pattern, anindication of an S-U in the beginning and S-D in the end may beprovided, were the resources in between of the S-U and S-D are S-F.

FIG. 5 illustrates resource allocation 500, an example of Scheme 1A-4.Scheme 1A-4 is shown with the example of DL-F-UL pattern assumption,where the block in between of SD and SU represents soft flexibleresources. Hence, the per-link semi-static configuration for an IAB DUincludes S-D/S-U/NA indication on the flexible resources, while S-F isimplicitly indicated as well.

Option 1B:

For this option, DU's per-link semi-static configuration considersH/S/NA indication only on flexible resources. In Option 1B, C-MT/C-UE'sD/U resources are also considered as hard resources at the C-MT/C-HE andare available for child DL/UL transmission. Moreover, there can beadditional hard (H) indication on flexible resources. DU's per-linksemi-static configuration considers HIS/NA indication on flexibleresources.

For this Option 1B, several schemes on the details of semi-static H/S/NAindication are possible. They are:

Scheme 1B-1: Indicate H/S/NA for the flexible resources.

Resource allocation 600 depicts an example of Scheme 1B-1 and isillustrated in FIG. 6. In this scheme, based on the per-link D/U/Fconfiguration at an IAB DU, which is aligned with its child D/U/Fconfiguration, the D/U resources are hard. Here, the per-linksemi-static configuration for a DU includes H/S/NA indication on theflexible resources without DL/UL details for the hard and softindication, illustrated in FIG. 6.

Scheme 1B-2: Indicate H-D/H-U/S-D/S-U/NA for the flexible resources.

Resource allocation 700 depicts an example of Scheme 1B-2 and isillustrated in FIG. 7. Compared with Scheme 1B-1, the DL/UL directionsregarding hard (H) and soft (S) resources are explicitly indicated forthe flexible resources, as shown in resource allocation 700 illustratedin FIG. 7. The per-link semi-static configuration for an LAB DU includesH-D/H-U/S-D/S-U/NA indication on the flexible resources.

Scheme 1B-3: Indicate H-D/H-U/H-F/S-D/S-U/S-F/NA for the flexibleresources.

A resource allocation 800 is depicted in FIG. 8. Compared with Scheme1B-1 and Scheme 1B-2, the hard and soft resources for the flexibleresources can be further detailed into: hard-downlink (H-D), hard-uplink(H-U), hard-flexible (H-F), soft-downlink (S-D), soft-uplink (S-U), andsoft-flexible (S-F). Those details are explicitly indicated for theflexible resources, also as illustrated in FIG. 8. The per-linksemi-static configuration for an IAB DU includesH-D/H-U/H-F/S-D/S-U/S-F/NA indication on the flexible resources.

Scheme 1B-4: Indicate H-D/H-U/S-D/S-U/NA for the flexible resources andimplicitly indicate H-F/S-F.

The idea of this scheme is similar to Scheme 1A-4. The hard and softresources for the flexible resources are also further detailed intohard-downlink (S-D), hard-uplink (S-U) and hard-flexible (S-F),soft-downlink (S-D), soft-uplink (S-U), and soft-flexible (S-F).Embodiments described herein assume that H-D/H-F/H-U and S-D/S-F/S-Ufollow some configuration pattern (“DL-F-UL” or “UL-F-DL”). For example,for the DL-F-UL configuration pattern in current NR specifications 3GPPTS 38.213 and TS 38.331, an indication of H-D in the beginning and H-Uin the end may be provided, where the resources in between are H-F andwherein an indication of indicate S-D in the beginning and S-U in theend may be provided. Furthermore, for this example, the resources inbetween of the S-D and S-U are S-F.

In other words, by explicitly indicating H-D/H-U, H-F is implicitlyindicated. Also, by explicitly indicating S-D/S-U, S-F is implicitlyindicated. Similar procedures can be defined for the UL-F-DLconfiguration pattern.

Scheme 1B-4 is illustrated in FIG. 9, which shows an exemplary resourceallocation 900 with the example of DL-F-UL pattern assumption. The blockin between of H-D and H-U represents H-F resources and wherein the blockin between of S-D and S-U represents S-F resources. Hence, the per-linksemi-static configuration for an IAB DU includes H-D/H-U/S-D/S-U/NAindication on the flexible resources, while H-F/S-F resources areimplicitly indicated as well.

Other schemes for H/S/NA (signaling three or two or one of them) can befurther found in U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/790,386.

Option 1C:

For this option, DU's per-link semi-static configuration considersH/S/NA indication on D/U/F resources that aligned with a C-MT/C-UE. InOption 1C, C-MT/C-UE's semi-static allocated D/U resources cannot alwaysbe considered as hard resources and some D/U resources may not beavailable to use for the child link. The DU's H/S/NA configurationindication can be on any of the C-MT/C-UE's D/U/F resources.

-   -   For the per-link H/S/NA configuration at an IAB DU on the child        link's downlink (D) or uplink (U) resources, H/S/NA indication        can be included and no additional DL/UL direction indication for        HIS is needed.    -   For the per-link H/S/NA configuration at an IAB DU the child        link's flexible (F) resources, schemes listed in Scheme 1/Option        1B and in U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/790,386.

Scheme 2:

An IAB DU's per-link semi-static configuration includes D/U/F/NAindications that do not overlap with each other and H/S indication onthe configured D/U/F.

In this scheme, an IAB DU's per-link semi-static configuration isdecoupled from its child (e.g., a C-MT or a C-UE) for that link. Forexample, compared to Scheme 1, the IAB DU will not align its per-linkD/U/F configuration with its child's D/U/F configuration. The IAB DUwill have its per-link semi-static configuration regarding D/U/F/NAresources that do not overlap with each other. Then, the H/S resourceswill be indicated based on the D/U/F configuration.

An example of Scheme 2 is illustrated in FIG. 10, where resourceallocation 1000 is the per-link semi-static D/U/F/NA configuration andwhere resource allocation 1001 is the further HIS indication on theconfigured. D/U/F.

In Scheme 2, several sub-schemes can be applied based on how the H/Sindication is performed:

Scheme 2-1: Explicitly indicate H/S for the configured D/U/F resources.

Scheme 2-2: Explicitly indicate hard (H) for the configured D/U/Fresources, and considers the rest of D/U/F as soft resources.

Scheme 2-3: Explicitly indicate soft (S) for the configured D/U/Fresources and consider the rest of D/U/F as hard resources.

Scheme 3:

An LAB DU's per-link semi-static configuration includeshard-downlink/hard-uplink/hard-flexible/soft-downlink/soft-uplink/soft-flexible/notavailable (H-D/H-U/H-F/S-D/S-U/S-F/NA) indications.

In this scheme, one semi-static configuration with explicit per-linkresources regarding different types (e.g., H-D/H-U/H-F/S-D/S-U/S-F/NA)are provided to an IAB DU.

Embodiments of the schemes described herein can be applied not only fortime-domain resource partitioning, but also for frequency-domainresource partitioning.

Embodiments of the schemes described herein can be applied not only forthe DL-UL configuration pattern (DL-F-UL pattern) in current 3GPPspecifications, but also for any new resource configuration pattern(UL-F-DL pattern for example) for an IAB NIT/UE or an LAB DU.

Systems and Implementations

FIG. 11 illustrates an example architecture of a system 1100 of anetwork, in accordance with various embodiments. One or more elements ofsystem 1100 can perform one or more operations described below withrespect to FIGS. 21A-21C and 22. The following description is providedfor an example system 1100 that operates in conjunction with the LTEsystem standards and 5G or NR system standards as provided by 3GPPtechnical specifications (TSs). However, the example embodiments are notlimited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to othernetworks that benefit from the principles described herein, such asfuture 3GPP systems (e.g., Sixth Generation (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), or the like.

As shown by FIG. 11, the system 1100 includes UE 1101 a and UE 1101 b(collectively referred to as “UEs 1101” or “UE 1101”). In this example,UEs 1101 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreenmobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks),but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such asconsumer electronics devices, cellular phones, smartphones, featurephones, tablet computers, wearable computer devices, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handsets, desktop computers, laptopcomputers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-car entertainment (ICE)devices, an Instrument Cluster (IC), head-up display (HUD) devices,onboard diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME), mobiledata terminals (MDTs), Electronic Engine Management System (EEMS),electronic/engine control units (ECUs), electronic/engine controlmodules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules,engine management systems (EMS), networked or “smart” appliances, MTCdevices, M2M, IoT devices, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 1101 may be IoT UEs, which maycomprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applicationsutilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologiessuch as M2M or MTC for exchanging data with an MTC server or device viaa PLMN, ProSe or D2D communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks.The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange ofdata. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which mayinclude uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within theInternet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs mayexecute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, statusupdates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UEs 1101 may be configured to connect, for example, communicativelycouple, with an or RAN 1110. In embodiments, the RAN 1110 may be an NGRAN or a 5G RAN, an E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN or GERAN.As used herein, the term “NG RAN” or the like may refer to a RAN 1110that operates in an NR or 5G system 1100, and the teen “E-UTRAN” or thelike may refer to a RAN 1110 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 1100.The UEs 1101 utilize connections (or channels) 1103 and 1104,respectively, each of which comprises a physical communicationsinterface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

In this example, the connections 1103 and 1104 are illustrated as an airinterface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent withcellular communications protocols, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMAnetwork protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a3GPP LTE protocol, a 5G protocol, a NR protocol, and/or any of the othercommunications protocols discussed herein. In embodiments, the UEs 1101may directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 1105. TheProSe interface 1105 may alternatively be referred to as a SL interface1105 and may comprise one or more logical channels, including but notlimited to a PSCCH, a PSSCH, a PSDCH, and a PSBCH.

The UE 1101 b is shown to be configured to access an AP 1106 (alsoreferred to as “WLAN node 1106,” “WLAN 1106,” “WLAN Termination 1106,”“WT 1106” or the like) via connection 1107. The connection 1107 cancomprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistentwith any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 1106 would comprise awireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In this example, the AP 1106 is shownto be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core networkof the wireless system (described in further detail below). In variousembodiments, the UE 1101 b, RAN 1110, and AP 1106 may be configured toutilize LWA operation and/or LWIP operation. The LWA operation mayinvolve the UE 1101 b in RRC_CONNECTED being configured by a RAN node1111 a-b to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation mayinvolve the UE 1101 b using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 1107)via IPsec protocol tunneling to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g.,IP packets) sent over the connection 1107. IPsec tunneling may includeencapsulating the entirety of original IP packets and adding a newpacket header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packets.

The RAN 1110 can include one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 1111 a and1111 b (collectively referred to as “RAN nodes 1111” or “RAN node 1111”)that enable the connections 1103 and 1104. As used herein, the terms“access node,” “access point,” or the like may describe equipment thatprovides the radio baseband functions for data and/or voice connectivitybetween a network and one or more users. These access nodes can bereferred to as BS, gNBs, RAN nodes, eNBs, NodeBs, RSUs, TRxPs or TRPs,and so forth, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial accesspoints) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographicarea (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the term “NG RAN node” or the likemay refer to a RAN node 1111 that operates in an NR or 5G system 1100(for example, a gNB), and the term “E-UTRAN node” or the like may referto a RAN node 1111 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 1100 (e.g., aneNB). According to various embodiments, the RAN nodes 1111 may beimplemented as one or more of a dedicated physical device such as amacrocell base station, and/or a low power (LP) base station forproviding femtocells, picocells or other like cells having smallercoverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared tomacrocells.

In some embodiments, all or parts of the RAN nodes 1111 may beimplemented as one or more software entities running on server computersas part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN and/ora virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN orvBBUP may implement a RAN function split, such as a PDCP split whereinRRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and other L2 protocolentities are operated by individual RAN nodes 1111; a MAC/PHY splitwherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN/vBBUPand the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes 1111; or a “lowerPHY” split wherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers and upper portions of thePHY layer are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and lower portions of the PHYlayer are operated by individual RAN nodes 1111. This virtualizedframework allows the freed-up processor cores of the RAN nodes 1111 toperform other virtualized applications. In some implementations, anindividual RAN node 1111 may represent individual gNB-DUs that areconnected to a gNB-CU via individual F1 interfaces (not shown by FIG.11). In these implementations, the gNB-DUs may include one or moreremote radio heads or RFEMs (see, e.g., FIG. 14), and the gNB-CU may beoperated by a server that is located in the RAN 1110 (not shown) or by aserver pool in a similar manner as the CRAN/vBBUP. Additionally oralternatively, one or more of the RAN nodes 1111 may be next generationeNBs (ng-eNBs), which are RAN nodes that provide E-UTRA user plane andcontrol plane protocol terminations toward the UEs 1101, and areconnected to a 5GC (e.g., CN 1320 of FIG. 13) via an NG interface(discussed infra).

In V2X scenarios one or more of the RAN nodes 1111 may be or act asRSUs. The term “Road Side Unit” or “RSU” may refer to any transportationinfrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may beimplemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relativelystationary) UE, where an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referredto as a “UE-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may bereferred to as an “eNB-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by a gNB maybe referred to as a “gNB-type RSU,” and the like. In one example, an RSUis a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located ona roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs1101 (vUEs 1101). The RSU may also include internal data storagecircuitry to store intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media,as well as applications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicularand pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz Direct ShortRange Communications (DSRC) band to provide very low latencycommunications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance,traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSUmay operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned lowlatency communications, as well as other cellular communicationsservices. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fihotspot (2.4 GHz band) and/or provide connectivity to one or morecellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Thecomputing device(s) and some or all of the radiofrequency circuitry ofthe RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoorinstallation, and may include a network interface controller to providea wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controllerand/or a backhaul network.

Any of the RAN nodes 1111 can terminate the air interface protocol andcan be the first point of contact for the UEs 1101. In some embodiments,any of the RAN nodes 1111 can fulfill various logical functions for theRAN 1110 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC)functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamicradio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobilitymanagement.

In embodiments, the UEs 1101 can be configured to communicate using OFDMcommunication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 1111over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with variouscommunication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an OFDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a SC-FDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelinkcommunications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited inthis respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonalsubcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlinktransmissions from any of the RAN nodes 1111 to the UEs 1101, whileuplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be atime-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resourcegrid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Sucha time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDMsystems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Eachcolumn and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symboland one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource gridin the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. Thesmallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resourceelement. Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks, whichdescribe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements.Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements; in thefrequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resourcesthat currently can be allocated. There are several different physicaldownlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks.

According to various embodiments, the UEs 1101, 1102 and the RAN nodes1111, 1112 communicate data (for example, transmit and receive) dataover a licensed medium (also referred to as the “licensed spectrum”and/or the “licensed band”) and an unlicensed shared medium (alsoreferred to as the “unlicensed spectrum” and/or the “unlicensed band”).The licensed spectrum may include channels that operate in the frequencyrange of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, whereas theunlicensed spectrum may include the 5 GHz band.

To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the UEs 1101, 1102 and the RANnodes 1111, 1112 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms.In these implementations, the UEs 1101, 1102 and the RAN nodes 1111,1112 may perform one or more known medium-sensing operations and/orcarrier-sensing operations in order to determine whether one or morechannels in the unlicensed spectrum is unavailable or otherwise occupiedprior to transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium/carriersensing operations may be performed according to a listen-before-talk(LBT) protocol.

LBT is a mechanism whereby equipment (for example, UEs 1101, 1102, RANnodes 1111, 1112, etc.) senses a medium (for example, a channel orcarrier frequency) and transmits when the medium is sensed to be idle(or when a specific channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied).The medium sensing operation may include CCA, which utilizes at least EDto determine the presence or absence of other signals on a channel inorder to determine if a channel is occupied or clear. This LBT mechanismallows cellular/LAA networks to coexist with incumbent systems in theunlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensingRF energy across an intended transmission band for a period of time andcomparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

Typically, the incumbent systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based onIFEE 802.11 technologies. WLAN employs a contention-based channel accessmechanism, called CSMA/CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobilestation (MS) such as UE 1101 or 1102, AP 1106, or the like) intends totransmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission.Additionally, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions insituations where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle andtransmits at the same time. The backoff mechanism may be a counter thatis drawn randomly within the CWS, which is increased exponentially uponthe occurrence of collision and reset to a minimum value when thetransmission succeeds. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhatsimilar to the CSMA/CA of WLAN. In some implementations, the LBTprocedure for DL or UL transmission bursts including PDSCH or PUSCHtransmissions, respectively, may have an LAA contention window that isvariable in length between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are minimumand maximum values for the CWSs for LAA. In one example, the minimum CWSfor an LAA transmission may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size ofthe CWS and a MCOT (for example, a transmission burst) may be based ongovernmental regulatory requirements.

The LAA mechanisms are built upon CA technologies of LTE-Advancedsystems. In CA, each aggregated carrier is referred to as a CC. A CC mayhave a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20 MHz and a maximum of fiveCCs can be aggregated, and therefore, a maximum aggregated bandwidth is100 MHz. In FDD systems, the number of aggregated carriers can bedifferent for DL and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lowerthan the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, individual CCscan have a different bandwidth than other CCs. In TDD systems, thenumber of CCs as well as the bandwidths of each CC is usually the samefor DL and UL.

CA also comprises individual serving cells to provide individual CCs.The coverage of the serving cells may differ, for example, because CCson different frequency bands will experience different pathloss. Aprimary service cell or PCell may provide a PCC for both UL and DL, andmay handle RRC and NAS related activities. The other serving cells arereferred to as SCells, and each SCell may provide an individual SCC forboth UL and DL. The SCCs may be added and removed as required, whilechanging the PCC may require the UE 1101, 1102 to undergo a handover. InLAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in theunlicensed spectrum (referred to as “LAA SCells”), and the LAA SCellsare assisted by a PCell operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE isconfigured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants onthe configured LAA SCells indicating different PDSCH starting positionswithin a same subframe.

The PDSCH carries user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 1101.The PDCCH carries information about the transport format and resourceallocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It mayalso inform the UEs 1101 about the transport format, resourceallocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel.Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channelresource blocks to the UE 1101 b within a cell) may be performed at anyof the RAN nodes 1111 based on channel quality information fed back fromany of the UEs 1101. The downlink resource assignment information may besent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 1101.

The PDCCH uses CCEs to convey the control information. Before beingmapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may firstbe organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using asub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmittedusing one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to ninesets of four physical resource elements known as REGs. Four QuadraturePhase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCHcan be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of theDCI and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCHformats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregationlevel, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for controlchannel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an EPDCCH that usesPDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may betransmitted using one or more ECCEs. Similar to above, each ECCE maycorrespond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as anEREGs. An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN nodes 1111 may be configured to communicate with one another viainterface 1112. In embodiments where the system 1100 is an LTE system(e.g., when CN 1120 is an EPC 1220 as in FIG. 12), the interface 1112may be an X2 interface 1112. The X2 interface may be defined between twoor more RAN nodes 1111 (e.g., two or more eNBs and the like) thatconnect to EPC 1120, and/or between two eNBs connecting to EPC 1120. Insome implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user planeinterface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U mayprovide flow control mechanisms for user data packets transferred overthe X2 interface, and may be used to communicate information about thedelivery of user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may providespecific sequence number information for user data transferred from aMeNB to an SeNB; information about successful in sequence delivery ofPDCP PDUs to a UE 1101 from an SeNB for user data; information of PDCPPDUs that were not delivered to a UE 1101; information about a currentminimum desired buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting to the UE userdata; and the like. The X2-C may provide intra-LTE access mobilityfunctionality, including context transfers from source to target eNBs,user plane transport control, etc.; load management functionality; aswell as inter-cell interference coordination functionality.

In embodiments where the system 1100 is a 5G or NR system (e.g., when CN1120 is an 5GC 1320 as in FIG. 13), the interface 1112 may be an Xninterface 1112. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RANnodes 1111 (e.g., two or more gNBs and the like) that connect to 5GC1120, between a RAN node 1111 (e.g., a gNB) connecting to 5GC 1120 andan eNB, and/or between two eNBs connecting to 5GC 1120. In someimplementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U)interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may providenon-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support/provide dataforwarding and flow control functionality. The Xn-C may providemanagement and error handling functionality, functionality to manage theXn-C interface; mobility support for UE 1101 in a connected mode (e.g.,CM-CONNECTED) including functionality to manage the UE mobility forconnected mode between one or more RAN nodes 1111. The mobility supportmay include context transfer from an old (source) serving RAN node 1111to new (target) serving RAN node 1111; and control of user plane tunnelsbetween old (source) serving RAN node 1111 to new (target) serving RANnode 1111. A protocol stack of the Xn-U may include a transport networklayer built on Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layeron top of a UDP and/or IP layer(s) to carry user plane PDUs. The Xn-Cprotocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol(referred to as Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport networklayer that is built on SCTP. The SCTP may be on top of an IP layer, andmay provide the guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. Inthe transport IP layer, point-to-point transmission is used to deliverthe signaling PDUs. In other implementations, the Xn-U protocol stackand/or the Xn-C protocol stack may be same or similar to the user planeand/or control plane protocol stack(s) shown and described herein.

The RAN 1110 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network—inthis embodiment, core network (CN) 1120. The CN 1120 may comprise aplurality of network elements 1122, which are configured to offervarious data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers(e.g., users of UEs 1101) who are connected to the CN 1120 via the RAN1110. The components of the CN 1120 may be implemented in one physicalnode or separate physical nodes including components to read and executeinstructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g.,a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments,NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the above-describednetwork node functions via executable instructions stored in one or morecomputer-readable storage mediums (described in further detail below). Alogical instantiation of the CN 1120 may be referred to as a networkslice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 1120 may bereferred to as a network sub-slice. NFV architectures andinfrastructures may be used to virtualize one or more network functions,alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, onto physical resourcescomprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storagehardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems can be used toexecute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPCcomponents/functions.

Generally, the application server 1130 may be an element offeringapplications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g.,UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 1130can also be configured to support one or more communication services(e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, socialnetworking services, etc.) for the UEs 1101 via the EPC 1120.

In embodiments, the CN 1120 may be a 5GC (referred to as “5GC 1120” orthe like), and the RAN 1110 may be connected with the CN 1120 via an NGinterface 1113. In embodiments, the NG interface 1113 may be split intotwo parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 1114, which carries trafficdata between the RAN nodes 1111 and a UPF, and the S1 control plane(NG-C) interface 1115, which is a signaling interface between the RANnodes 1111 and AMFs. Embodiments where the CN 1120 is a 5GC 1120 arediscussed in more detail with regard to FIG. 13.

In embodiments, the CN 1120 may be a 5G CN (referred to as “5GC 1120” orthe like), while in other embodiments, the CN 1120 may be an EPC). WhereCN 1120 is an EPC (referred to as “EPC 1120” or the like), the RAN 1110may be connected with the CN 1120 via an S1 interface 1113. Inembodiments, the S1 interface 1113 may be split into two parts, an S1user plane (S1-U) interface 1114, which carries traffic data between theRAN nodes 1111 and the S-GW, and the S1-MME interface 1115, which is asignaling interface between the RAN nodes 1111 and MMFs. An examplearchitecture wherein the CN 1120 is an EPC 1120 is shown by FIG. 12.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example architecture of a system 1200 including afirst CN 1220, in accordance with various embodiments. In this example,system 1200 may implement the LTE standard wherein the CN 1220 is an EPC1220 that corresponds with CN 1120 of FIG. 11. Additionally, the UE 1201may be the same or similar as the UEs 1101 of FIG. 11, and the E-UTRAN1210 may be a RAN that is the same or similar to the RAN 1110 of FIG.11, and which may include RAN nodes 1111 discussed previously. The CN1220 may comprise MMES 1221, an S-GW 1222, a P-GW 1223, a HSS 1224, anda SGSN 1225.

The MMEs 1221 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacySGSN, and may implement MM functions to keep track of the currentlocation of a UE 1201. The MMEs 1221 may perform various NM proceduresto manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection andtracking area list management. MM (also referred to as “EPS MM” or “EMM”in E-UTRAN systems) may refer to all applicable procedures, methods,data storage, etc. that are used to maintain knowledge about a presentlocation of the UE 1201, provide user identity confidentiality, and/orperform other like services to users/subscribers. Each UE 1201 and theMME 1221 may include an MM or EMM sublayer, and an MAI context may beestablished in the UE 1201 and the MME 1221 when an attach procedure issuccessfully completed. The MN/context may be a data structure ordatabase object that stores MM-related information of the UE 1201. TheMMEs 1221 may be coupled with the HSS 1224 via an S6a reference point,coupled with the SGSN 1225 via an S3 reference point, and coupled withthe S-GW 1222 via an S11 reference point.

The SGSN 1225 may be a node that serves the UE 1201 by tracking thelocation of an individual UE 1201 and performing security functions. Inaddition, the SGSN 1225 may perform Inter-EPC node signaling formobility between 2G/3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks; PDN and S-GWselection as specified by the MMEs 1221; handling of UE 1201 time zonefunctions as specified by the MMEs 1221; and MME selection for handoversto E-UTRAN 3GPP access network. The S3 reference point between the MMEs1221 and the SGSN 1225 may enable user and bearer information exchangefor inter-3GPP access network mobility in idle and/or active states.

The HSS 1224 may comprise a database for network users, includingsubscription-related information to support the network entities'handling of communication sessions. The EPC 1220 may comprise one orseveral HSSs 1224, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on thecapacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. Forexample, the HSS 1224 can provide support for routing/roaming,authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, locationdependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 1224 and theMEEs 1221 may enable transfer of subscription and authentication datafor authenticating/authorizing user access to the EPC 1220 between HSS1224 and the MMEs 1221.

The S-GW 1222 may terminate the S1 interface 1113 (“S1-U” in FIG. 12)toward the RAN 1210, and routes data packets between the RAN 1210 andthe EPC 1220. In addition, the S-GW 1222 may be a local mobility anchorpoint for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor forinter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawfulintercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. The S11 referencepoint between the S-GW 1222 and the MMEs 1221 may provide a controlplane between the MMEs 1221 and the S-GW 1222. The S-GW 1222 may becoupled with the P-GW 1223 via an S5 reference point.

The P-GW 1223 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN 1230. The P-GW1223 may route data packets between the EPC 1220 and external networkssuch as a network including the application server 1130 (alternativelyreferred to as an “AF”) via an IP interface 1125 (see e.g., FIG. 11). Inembodiments, the P-GW 1223 may be communicatively coupled to anapplication server (application server 1130 of FIG. 11 or PDN 1230 inFIG. 12) via an IP communications interface 1125 (see, e.g., FIG. 11).The S5 reference point between the P-GW 1223 and the S-GW 1222 mayprovide user plane tunneling and tunnel management between the P-GW 1223and the S-GW 1222. The S5 reference point may also be used for S-GW 1222relocation due to UE 1201 mobility and if the S-GW 1222 needs to connectto a non-collocated P-GW 1223 for the required PDN connectivity. TheP-GW 1223 may further include a node for policy enforcement and chargingdata collection (e.g., PCEF (not shown)). Additionally, the SGireference point between the P-GW 1223 and the packet data network (PDN)1230 may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intraoperator packet data network, for example, for provision of IMSservices. The P-GW 1223 may be coupled with a PCRF 1226 via a Gxreference point.

PCRF 1226 is the policy and charging control element of the EPC 1220. Ina non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF 1226 in the HomePublic Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE 1201's InternetProtocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roamingscenario with local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFsassociated with a UE 1201's IP-CAN session, a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) withinan HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land MobileNetwork (VPLMN). The PCRF 1226 may be communicatively coupled to theapplication server 1230 via the P-GW 1223. The application server 1230may signal the PCRF 1226 to indicate a new service flow and select theappropriate QoS and charging parameters. The PCRF 1226 may provisionthis rule into a PCEF (not shown) with the appropriate TFT and QCI,which commences the QoS and charging as specified by the applicationserver 1230. The Gx reference point between the PCRF 1226 and the P-GW1223 may allow for the transfer of QoS policy and charging rules fromthe PCRF 1226 to PCEF in the P-GW 1223. An Rx reference point may residebetween the PDN 1230 (or “AF 1230”) and the PCRF 1226.

FIG. 13 illustrates an architecture of a system 1300 including a secondCN 1320 in accordance with various embodiments. The system 1300 is shownto include a UE 1301, which may be the same or similar to the UEs 1101and UE 1201 discussed previously; a (R)AN 1310; which may be the same orsimilar to the RAN 1110 and RAN 1210 discussed previously, and which mayinclude RAN nodes 1111 discussed previously; and a DN 1303, which maybe, for example, operator services, Internet access or 3rd partyservices; and a 5GC 1320. The 5GC 1320 may include an AUSF 1322; an AMF1321; a SMF 1324; a NEF 1323; a PCF 1326; a NRF 1325; a UDM 1327; an AF1328; a UPF 1302; and a NSSF 1329.

The UPF 1302 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RATmobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to DN 1303; anda branching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 1302 mayalso perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection,enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets(UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handlingfor a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rateenforcement), perform Uplink Traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flowmapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, andperform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notificationtriggering. UPF 1302 may include an uplink classifier to support routingtraffic flows to a data network. The DN 1303 may represent variousnetwork operator services, Internet access, or third party services. DN1303 may include, or be similar to, application server 1130 discussedpreviously. The UPF 1302 may interact with the SMF 1324 via an N4reference point between the SWR 1324 and the UPF 1302.

The AUSF 1322 may store data for authentication of UE 1301 and handleauthentication-related functionality. The AUSF 1322 may facilitate acommon authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF 1322may communicate with the AMF 1321 via an N12 reference point between theAMF 1321 and the AUSF 1322; and may communicate with the UDM 1327 via anN13 reference point between the UDM 1327 and the AUSF 1322.Additionally, the AUSF 1322 may exhibit an Nausf service-basedinterface.

The AMF 1321 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., forregistering UE 1301, etc.), connection management, reachabilitymanagement, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-relatedevents, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 1321 may bea termination point for the an N11 reference point between the AMF 1321and the SWF 1324. The AMF 1321 may provide transport for SM messagesbetween the UE 1301 and the SMF 1324, and act as a transparent proxy forrouting SM messages. AMF 1321 may also provide transport for SMSmessages between UE 1301 and an SMSF (not shown by FIG. 13). AMF 1321may act as SEAF, which may include interaction with the AUSF 1322 andthe UE 1301, receipt of an intermediate key that was established as aresult of the UE 1301 authentication process. Where USIM basedauthentication is used, the AMF 1321 may retrieve the security materialfrom the AUSF 1322. AMF 1321 may also include a SCM function, whichreceives a key from the SEA that it uses to derive access-networkspecific keys. Furthermore, AMF 1321 may be a termination point of a RANCP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the(R)AN 1310 and the AMF 1321; and the AMF 1321 may be a termination pointof NAS (N1) signalling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrityprotection.

AMF 1321 may also support NAS signalling with a UE 1301 over an N3 IWFinterface. The N3IWF may be used to provide access to entrustedentities. N3IWF may be a termination point for the N2 interface betweenthe (R)AN 1310 and the AMF 1321 for the control plane, and may be atermination point for the N3 reference point between the (R)AN 1310 andthe UPF 1302 for the user plane. As such, the AMF 1321 may handle N2signalling from the SMF 1324 and the AMF 1321 for PDU sessions and QoS,encapsulate/de-encapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunnelling, mark N3user-plane packets in the uplink, and enforce QoS corresponding to N3packet marking taking into account QoS requirements associated with suchmarking received over N2. N3IWF may also relay uplink and downlinkcontrol-plane NAS signalling between the UE 1301 and AMF 1321 via an N1reference point between the UE 1301 and the AMF 1321, and relay uplinkand downlink user-plane packets between the UE 1301 and UPF 1302. TheN3IWF also provides mechanisms for IP sec tunnel establishment with theUE 1301. The AMF 1321 may exhibit an Namf service-based interface, andmay be a termination point for an N14 reference point between two AMFs1321 and an N17 reference point between the AMF 1321 and a 5G-EIR (notshown by FIG. 13).

The UE 1301 may need to register with the AMF 1321 in order to receivenetwork services. RM is used to register or deregister the UE 1301 withthe network (e.g., AMF 1321), and establish a UE context in the network(e.g., AMF 1321). The UE 1301 may operate in an RM-REGISTERED state oran RM-DEREGISTERED state. In the RM-DEREGISTERED state, the UE 1301 isnot registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 1321 holds novalid location or routing information for the UE 1301 so the HE 1301 isnot reachable by the AMF 1321. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 1301is registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 1321 may holda valid location or routing information for the HE 1301 so the UE 1301is reachable by the AMF 1321. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the HE 1301may perform mobility Registration Update procedures, perform periodicRegistration Update procedures triggered by expiration of the periodicupdate timer (e.g., to notify the network that the UE 1301 is stillactive), and perform a Registration Update procedure to update UEcapability information or to re-negotiate protocol parameters with thenetwork, among others.

The AMF 1321 may store one or more RM contexts for the UE 1301, whereeach RM context is associated with a specific access to the network. TheRM context may be a data structure, database object, etc. that indicatesor stores, inter alia, a registration state per access type and theperiodic update timer. The AMF 1321 may also store a 5GC MM context thatmay be the same or similar to the (E)MM context discussed previously. Invarious embodiments, the AMF 1321 may store a CE mode B Restrictionparameter of the UE 1301 in an associated MM context or RM context. TheAMF 1321 may also derive the value, when needed, from the UE's usagesetting parameter already stored in the UE context (and/or MM/RMcontext).

CM may be used to establish and release a signaling connection betweenthe UE 1301 and the AMF 1321 over the N1 interface. The signalingconnection is used to enable NAS signaling exchange between the UE 1301and the CN 1320, and comprises both the signaling connection between theUE and the AN (e.g., RRC connection or UE-N3IWF connection for non-3GPPaccess) and the N2 connection for the HE 1301 between the AN (e.g., RAN1310) and the AMF 1321. The UE 1301 may operate in one of two CM states,CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode. When the UE 1301 is operating in theCM-IDLE state/mode, the UE 1301 may have no NAS signaling connectionestablished with the AMF 1321 over the N1 interface, and there may be(R)AN 1310 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connections) for theUE 1301. When the UE 1301 is operating in the CM-CONNECTED state/mode,the UE 1301 may have an established NAS signaling connection with theAMF 1321 over the N1 interface, and there may be a (R)AN 1310 signalingconnection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connections) for the UE 1301.Establishment of an N2 connection between the (R)AN 1310 and the AMF1321 may cause the UE 1301 to transition from CM-IDLE mode toCM-CONNECTED mode, and the UE 1301 may transition from the CM-CONNECTEDmode to the CM-IDLE mode when N2 signaling between the (R)AN 1310 andthe AMF 1321 is released.

The SMF 1324 may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment,modify and release, including tunnel maintain between UPF and AN node);UE IP address allocation and management (including optionalauthorization); selection and control of UP function; configuringtraffic steering at UPF to route traffic to proper destination;termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controllingpart of policy enforcement and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events andinterface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages;downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sentvia AMF over N2 to AN; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM mayrefer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” mayrefer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables theexchange of PDUs between a UE 1301 and a data network (DN) 1303identified by a Data Network Name (DNN). PDU sessions may be establishedupon UE 1301 request, modified upon LIE 1301 and 5GC 1320 request, andreleased upon UE 1301 and 5GC 1320 request using NAS SM signalingexchanged over the N1 reference point between the UE 1301 and the SMF1324. Upon request from an application server, the 5GC 1320 may triggera specific application in the UE 1301. In response to receipt of thetrigger message, the UE 1301 may pass the trigger message (or relevantparts/information of the trigger message) to one or more identifiedapplications in the UE 1301. The identified application(s) in the UE1301 may establish a PDU session to a specific DNN. The SMF 1324 maycheck whether the UE 1301 requests are compliant with user subscriptioninformation associated with the UE 1301. In this regard, the SMF 1324may retrieve and/or request to receive update notifications on SMF 1324level subscription data from the UDM 1327.

The SMF 1324 may include the following roaming functionality: handlinglocal enforcement to apply QoS SLAs (VPLMN); charging data collectionand charging interface (VPLMN); lawful intercept (in VPLMN for SM eventsand interface to LI system); and support for interaction with externalDN for transport of signalling for PDU sessionauthorization/authentication by external DN. An N16 reference pointbetween two SMFs 1324 may be included in the system 1300; which may bebetween another SMF 1324 in a visited network and the SMF 1324 in thehome network in roaming scenarios. Additionally, the SMF 1324 mayexhibit the Nsmf service-based interface.

The NEF 1323 may provide means for securely exposing the services andcapabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party,internal exposure/re-exposure, Application Functions (e.g., AF 1328),edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, theNEF 1323 may authenticate, authorize, and/or throttle the AFs. NEF 1323may also translate information exchanged with the AF 1328 andinformation exchanged with internal network functions. For example, theNEF 1323 may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal5GC information. NEF 1323 may also receive information from othernetwork functions (NFs) based on exposed capabilities of other networkfunctions. This information may be stored at the NEF 1323 as structureddata, or at a data storage NE using standardized interfaces. The storedinformation can then be re-exposed by the NEF 1323 to other NFs and AFs,and/or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF1323 may exhibit an Nnef service-based interface.

The NRF 1325 may support service discovery functions, receive NFdiscovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of thediscovered NE instances to the NF instances. NRF 1325 also maintainsinformation of available NF instances and their supported services. Asused herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like mayrefer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to aconcrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 1325 may exhibit theNnrf service-based interface.

The PCF 1326 may provide policy rules to control plane function(s) toenforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to governnetwork behaviour. The PCF 1326 may also implement an FE to accesssubscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of theUDM 1327. The PCF 1326 may communicate with the AMF 1321 via an N15reference point between the PCF 1326 and the AMY 1321, which may includea PCF 1326 in a visited network and the AMF 1321 in case of roamingscenarios. The PCF 1326 may communicate with the AF 1328 via an N5reference point between the PCF 1326 and the AF 1328; and with the SMF1324 via an N7 reference point between the PCF 1326 and the SMF 1324.The system 1300 and/or CN 1320 may also include an N24 reference pointbetween the PCF 1326 (in the home network) and a PCF 1326 in a visitednetwork. Additionally, the PCF 1326 may exhibit an Npcf service-basedinterface.

The UDM 1327 may handle subscription-related information to support thenetwork entities' handling of communication sessions, and may storesubscription data of UE 1301. For example, subscription data may becommunicated between the UDM 1327 and the AMF 1321 via an N8 referencepoint between the UDM 1327 and the AMF. The UDM 1327 may include twoparts, an application FE and a UDR (the FE and UDR are not shown by FIG.13). The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM1327 and the PCF 1326, and/or structured data for exposure andapplication data (including PFDs for application detection, applicationrequest information for multiple UEs 1301) for the NEF 1323. The Nudrservice-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM1327, PCF 1326, and NEF 1323 to access a particular set of the storeddata, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, andsubscribe to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDMmay include a UDM-FE, which is in charge of processing credentials,location management, subscription management, and so on. Severaldifferent front ends may serve the same user in different transactions.The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR andperforms authentication credential processing, user identificationhandling, access authorization, registration/mobility management, andsubscription management. The UDR may interact with the SMF 1324 via anN10 reference point between the UDM 1327 and the SMF 1324. UDM 1327 mayalso support SMS management, wherein an SMS-FE implements the similarapplication logic as discussed previously. Additionally, the UDM 1327may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

The AF 1328 may provide application influence on traffic routing,provide access to the NCE, and interact with the policy framework forpolicy control. The NCE may be a mechanism that allows the 5GC 1320 andAF 1328 to provide information to each other via NEF 1323, which may beused for edge computing implementations. In such implementations, thenetwork operator and third party services may be hosted close to the UE1301 access point of attachment to achieve an efficient service deliverythrough the reduced end-to-end latency and load on the transportnetwork. For edge computing implementations, the 5GC may select a UPF1302 close to the UE 1301 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 1302to DN 1303 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UEsubscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF 1328.In this way, the AF 1328 may influence UPF (re)selection and trafficrouting. Based on operator deployment, when AF 1328 is considered to bea trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF 1328 to interactdirectly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 1328 may exhibit an Nafservice-based interface.

The NSSF 1329 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE1301. The NSSF 1329 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping tothe subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 1329 may also determine theAMF set to be used to serve the UE 1301, or a list of candidate AMF(s)1321 based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF1325. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 1301may be triggered by the AMY 1321 with which the UE 1301 is registered byinteracting with the NSSF 1329, which may lead to a change of AMF 1321.The NSSF 1329 may interact with the AMF 1321 via an N22 reference pointbetween AMF 1321 and NSSF 1329; and may communicate with another NSSF1329 in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown by FIG.13). Additionally, the NSSF 1329 may exhibit an Nnssf service-basedinterface.

As discussed previously, the CN 1320 may include an SMSF, which may beresponsible for SMS subscription checking and verification, and relayingSM messages to/from the UE 1301 to/from other entities, such as anSMS-GMSC/IWMSC/SMS-router. The SMS may also interact with AMF 1321 andUDM 1327 for a notification procedure that the UE 1301 is available forSMS transfer (e.g., set a HE not reachable flag, and notifying UDM 1327when UE 1301 is available for SMS).

The CN 120 may also include other elements that are not shown by FIG.13, such as a Data Storage system/architecture, a 5G-EIR, a SEPP, andthe like. The Data Storage system may include a SD SF, an UDSF, and/orthe like. Any NF may store and retrieve unstructured data into/from theUDSF (e.g., UE contexts), via N18 reference point between any NF and theUDSF (not shown by FIG. 13). Individual NFs may share a UDSF for storingtheir respective unstructured data or individual NFs may each have theirown UDSF located at or near the individual NFs. Additionally, the UDSFmay exhibit an Nudsf service-based interface (not shown by FIG. 13). The5G-EIR may be an NE that checks the status of PEI for determiningwhether particular equipment/entities are blacklisted from the network;and the SEPP may be a non-transparent proxy that performs topologyhiding, message filtering, and policing on inter-PLMN control planeinterfaces.

Additionally, there may be many more reference points and/orservice-based interfaces between the NE services in the NFs; however,these interfaces and reference points have been omitted from FIG. 13 forclarity. In one example, the CN 1320 may include an Nx interface, whichis an inter-CN interface between the MME (e.g., MME 1221) and the AMF1321 in order to enable interworking between CN 1320 and CN 1220. Otherexample interfaces/reference points may include an N5g-EIR service-basedinterface exhibited by a 5G-EIR, an N27 reference point between the NRFin the visited network and the NRF in the home network; and an N31reference point between the NSSF in the visited network and the NSSF inthe home network.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of infrastructure equipment 1400 inaccordance with various embodiments. The infrastructure equipment 1400(or “system 1400”) may be implemented as a base station, radio head, RANnode such as the RAN nodes 1111 and/or AP 1106 shown and describedpreviously, application server(s) 1130, and/or any other element/devicediscussed herein. In other examples, the system 1400 could beimplemented in or by a UE.

The system 1400 includes application circuitry 1405, baseband circuitry1410, one or more radio front end modules (RFEMs) 1415, memory circuitry1420, power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 1425, power teecircuitry 1430, network controller circuitry 1435, network interfaceconnector 1440, satellite positioning circuitry 1445, and user interface1450. In some embodiments, the device 1400 may include additionalelements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor,or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the componentsdescribed below may be included in more than one device. For example,said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device forCRAN, vBBU, or other like implementations.

Application circuitry 1405 includes circuitry such as, but not limitedto one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of low drop-out voltage regulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers,serial interfaces such as SPI, FC or universal programmable serialinterface module, real time clock (RTC), timer-counters includinginterval and watchdog timers, general purpose input/output (I/O or IO),memory card controllers such as Secure Digital (SD) MultiMediaCard (MMC)or similar, Universal Serial Bus (USB) interfaces, Mobile industryProcessor Interface (MIPI) interfaces and Joint Test Access Group (JTAG)test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 1405 may be coupled with or may include memory/storageelements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 1400. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology; such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 1405 may include, for example,one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors,one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISCMachine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing(CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSP), one ormore FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or moremicroprocessors or controllers; or any suitable combination thereof. Insome embodiments, the application circuitry 1405 may comprise, or maybe, a special-purpose processor/controller to operate according to thevarious embodiments herein. As examples, the processor(s) of applicationcircuitry 1405 may include one or more Intel Pentium®, Core®, or Xeon®processor(s); Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processor(s),Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), or Epyc® processors; ARM-basedprocessor(s) licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd. such as the ARM Cortex-Afamily of processors and the ThunderX2® provided by Cavium™, Inc.; aMIPS-based design from MIPS Technologies, Inc. such as MIPS WarriorP-class processors; and/or the like. In some embodiments, the system1400 may not utilize application circuitry 1405, and instead may includea special-purpose processor/controller to process IP data received froman EPC or 5GC, for example.

In some implementations, the application circuitry 1405 may include oneor more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors,programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardwareaccelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and/or deeplearning (DL) accelerators. As examples, the programmable processingdevices may be one or more a field-programmable devices (FPDs) such asfield-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and the like; programmable logicdevices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs(HCPLDs), and the like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like;programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such implementations, thecircuitry of application circuitry 1405 may comprise logic blocks orlogic fabric, and other interconnected resources that may be programmedto perform various functions, such as the procedures, methods,functions, etc. of the various embodiments discussed herein. In suchembodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 1405 may includememory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM),anti-fuses, etc.)) used to store logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc.in look-up-tables (LUTs) and the like.

The baseband circuitry 1410 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 1410 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 16.

User interface circuitry 1450 may include one or more user interfacesdesigned to enable user interaction with the system 1400 or peripheralcomponent interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interactionwith the system 1400. User interfaces may include, but are not limitedto, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), oneor more indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physicalkeyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, speakers orother audio emitting devices, microphones, a printer, a scanner, aheadset, a display screen or display device, etc. Peripheral componentinterfaces may include, but are not limited to, a nonvolatile memoryport, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

The radio front end modules (RFEMs) 1415 may comprise a millimeter wave(mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-mmWave radio frequency integratedcircuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-mmWaveRFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs mayinclude connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see e.g.,antenna array 1611 of FIG. 16 infra), and the RFEM may be connected tomultiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both mmWave andsub-mmWave radio functions may be implemented in the same physical RFEM1415, which incorporates both mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 1420 may include one or more of volatile memoryincluding dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc., and may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®. Memory circuitry 1420 may be implemented as one or more ofsolder down packaged integrated circuits, socketed memory modules andplug-in memory cards.

The PMIC 1425 may include voltage regulators, surge protectors, poweralarm detection circuitry, and one or more backup power sources such asa battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuitry may detectone or more of brown out (under-voltage) and surge (over-voltage)conditions. The power tee circuitry 1430 may provide for electricalpower drawn from a network cable to provide both power supply and dataconnectivity to the infrastructure equipment 1400 using a single cable.

The network controller circuitry 1435 may provide connectivity to anetwork using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet,Ethernet over GRE Tunnels, Ethernet over Multiprotocol Label Switching(MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may beprovided to/from the infrastructure equipment 1400 via network interfaceconnector 1440 using a physical connection, which may be electrical(commonly referred to as a “copper interconnect”), optical, or wireless.The network controller circuitry 1435 may include one or more dedicatedprocessors and/or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of theaforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the networkcontroller circuitry 1435 may include multiple controllers to provideconnectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

The positioning circuitry 1445 includes circuitry to receive and decodesignals transmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a globalnavigation satellite system (GNSS). Examples of navigation satelliteconstellations (or GNSS) include United States' Global PositioningSystem (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the EuropeanUnion's Galileo system, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, aregional navigation system or GNSS augmentation system (e.g., Navigationwith Indian Constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System(QZSS), France's Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning integratedby Satellite (DORIS), etc.), or the like. The positioning circuitry 1445comprises various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devicessuch as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like tofacilitate OTA communications) to communicate with components of apositioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes.In some embodiments, the positioning circuitry 1445 may include aMicro-Technology for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Micro-PNT) ICthat uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking/estimationwithout GNSS assistance. The positioning circuitry 1445 may also be partof, or interact with, the baseband circuitry 1410 and/or RFEMs 1415 tocommunicate with the nodes and components of the positioning network.The positioning circuitry 1445 may also provide position data and/ortime data to the application circuitry 1405, which may use the data tosynchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., RAN nodes1111, etc.), or the like.

The components shown by FIG. 14 may communicate with one another usinginterface circuitry, which may include any number of bus and/orinterconnect (IX) technologies such as industry standard architecture(ISA), extended ISA (EISA), peripheral component interconnect (PCI),peripheral component interconnect extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe),or any number of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietarybus, for example, used in a SoC based system. Other bus/IX systems maybe included, such as an I²C interface, an SPI interface, point to pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a platform 1500 (or “device 1500”) inaccordance with various embodiments. In embodiments, the computerplatform 1500 may be suitable for use as UEs 1101, 1102, 1201,application servers 1130, and/or any other element/device discussedherein. The platform 1500 may include any combinations of the componentsshown in the example. The components of platform 1500 may be implementedas integrated circuits (ICs), portions thereof, discrete electronicdevices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or acombination thereof adapted in the computer platform 1500, or ascomponents otherwise incorporated within a chassis of a larger system.The block diagram of FIG. 15 is intended to show a high level view ofcomponents of the computer platform 1500. However, some of thecomponents shown may be omitted, additional components may be present,and different arrangement of the components shown may occur in otherimplementations.

Application circuitry 1505 includes circuitry such as, but not limitedto one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of LDOs, interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such as SPI, I²Cor universal programmable serial interface module, RTC, timer-countersincluding interval and watchdog timers, general purpose I/O, memory cardcontrollers such as SD MMC or similar, USB interfaces, MIPI interfaces,and JTAG test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 1505 may be coupled with or may include memory/storageelements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 1500. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology, such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 1405 may include, for example,one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one ormore GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, oneor more CISC processors, one or more DSP, one or more FPGAs, one or morePLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, amultithreaded processor, an ultra-low voltage processor, an embeddedprocessor, some other known processing element, or any suitablecombination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuitry 1405may comprise, or may be, a special-purpose processor/controller tooperate according to the various embodiments herein.

As examples, the processor(s) of application circuitry 1505 may includean Intel® Architecture Core™ based processor, such as a Quark™, anAtom™, an i3, an i5, an i7, or an MCU-class processor, or another suchprocessor available from Intel® Corporation, Santa Clara, Calif. Theprocessors of the application circuitry 1505 may also be one or more ofAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processor(s) or AcceleratedProcessing Units (APUs); A5-A9 processor(s) from Apple® Inc.,Snapdragon™ processor(s) from Qualcomm® Technologies, Inc., TexasInstruments, Inc.® Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP)™processor(s); a MIPS-based design from MIPS Technologies, Inc. such asMIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors;an ARM-based design licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARMCortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M family of processors; or the like. Insome implementations, the application circuitry 1505 may be a part of asystem on a chip (SoC) in which the application circuitry 1505 and othercomponents are formed into a single integrated circuit, or a singlepackage, such as the Edison™ or Galileo™ SoC boards from Intel®Corporation.

Additionally or alternatively, application circuitry 1505 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more a field-programmabledevices (FPDs) such as FPGAs and the like; programmable logic devices(PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), andthe like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like; programmable SoCs(PSoCs); and the like. In such embodiments, the circuitry of applicationcircuitry 1505 may comprise logic blocks or logic fabric, and otherinterconnected resources that may be programmed to perform variousfunctions, such as the procedures, methods, functions, etc. of thevarious embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitryof application circuitry 1505 may include memory cells (e.g., erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory(e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuses, etc.)) used tostore logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc. in look-up tables (LUTs)and the like.

The baseband circuitry 1510 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 1510 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 16.

The RFEMs 1515 may comprise a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one ormore sub-mmWave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In someimplementations, the one or more sub-mmWave RFICs may be physicallyseparated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs may include connections to oneor more antennas or antenna arrays (see e.g., antenna array 1611 of FIG.16 infra), and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. Inalternative implementations, both mmWave and sub-mmWave radio functionsmay be implemented in the same physical RFEM 1515, which incorporatesboth mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 1520 may include any number and type of memorydevices used to provide for a given amount of system memory. Asexamples, the memory circuitry 1520 may include one or more of volatilememory including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and/orsynchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuitry 1520 may bedeveloped in accordance with a Joint Electron Devices EngineeringCouncil (JEDEC) low power double data rate (LPDDR)-based design, such asLPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, or the like. Memory circuitry 1520 may beimplemented as one or more of solder down packaged integrated circuits,single die package (SDP), dual die package (DDP) or quad die package(Q17P), socketed memory modules, dual inline memory modules (DIMMs)including microDIMMs or MiniDIMMs, and/or soldered onto a motherboardvia a ball grid array (BGA). In low power implementations, the memorycircuitry 1520 may be on-die memory or registers associated with theapplication circuitry 1505. To provide for persistent storage ofinformation such as data, applications, operating systems and so forth,memory circuitry 1520 may include one or more mass storage devices,which may include, inter glia, a solid state disk drive (SSDD), harddisk drive (HDD), a micro HDD, resistance change memories, phase changememories, holographic memories, or chemical memories, among others. Forexample, the computer platform 1500 may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®.

Removable memory circuitry 1523 may include devices, circuitry,enclosures/housings, ports or receptacles, etc. used to couple portabledata storage devices with the platform 1500. These portable data storagedevices may be used for mass storage purposes, and may include, forexample, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, microSDcards, xD picture cards, and the like), and USB flash drives, opticaldiscs, external HDDs, and the like.

The platform 1500 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) thatis used to connect external devices with the platform 1500. The externaldevices connected to the platform 1500 via the interface circuitryinclude sensor circuitry 1521 and electro-mechanical components (EMCs)1522, as well as removable memory devices coupled to removable memorycircuitry 1523.

The sensor circuitry 1521 include devices, modules, or subsystems whosepurpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send theinformation (sensor data) about the detected events to some other adevice, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, interalia, inertia measurement units (IMUs) comprising accelerometers,gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems (MFMS)or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) comprising 3-axisaccelerometers, 3-axis gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; level sensors;flow sensors; temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors); pressure sensors;barometric pressure sensors; gravimeters; altimeters; image capturedevices (e.g., cameras or lensless apertures); light detection andranging (LiDAR) sensors; proximity sensors (e.g., infrared radiationdetector and the like), depth sensors, ambient light sensors, ultrasonictransceivers; microphones or other like audio capture devices; etc.

EMCs 1522 include devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is toenable platform 1500 to change its state, position, and/or orientation,or move or control a mechanism or (sub)system. Additionally, EMCs 1522may be configured to generate and send messages/signalling to othercomponents of the platform 1500 to indicate a current state of the EMCs1522. Examples of the EMCs 1522 include one or more power switches,relays including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and/or solid staterelays (SSRs), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), an audible soundgenerator, a visual warning device, motors (e.g., DC motors, steppermotors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks,and/or other like electro-mechanical components. In embodiments,platform 1500 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 1522 based onone or more captured events and/or instructions or control signalsreceived from a service provider and/or various clients.

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 1500 with positioning circuitry 1545. The positioning circuitry1545 includes circuitry to receive and decode signalstransmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a GNSS. Examples ofnavigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include United States'GPS, Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo system, China'sBeiDou Navigation Satellite System, a regional navigation system or GNSSaugmentation system (e.g., NAVIC), Japan's QZSS, France's DORIS, etc.),or the like. The positioning circuitry 1545 comprises various hardwareelements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters,amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like to facilitate OTAcommunications) to communicate with components of a positioning network,such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments,the positioning circuitry 1545 may include a Micro-PNT IC that uses amaster timing clock to perform position tracking/estimation without GNSSassistance. The positioning circuitry 1545 may also be part of, orinteract with, the baseband circuitry 1410 and/or RFEMs 1515 tocommunicate with the nodes and components of the positioning network.The positioning circuitry 1545 may also provide position data and/ortime data to the application circuitry 1505, which may use the data tosynchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., radio basestations), for turn-by-turn navigation applications, or the like.

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 1500 with Near-Field Communication (NFC) circuitry 1540. NFCcircuitry 1540 is configured to provide contactless, short-rangecommunications based on radio frequency identification (RFID) standards,wherein magnetic field induction is used to enable communication betweenNFC circuitry 1540 and NFC-enabled devices external to the platform 1500(e.g., an “NFC touchpoint”). NFC circuitry 1540 comprises an NFCcontroller coupled with an antenna element and a processor coupled withthe NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip/IC providing NFCfunctionalities to the NFC circuitry 1540 by executing NFC controllerfirmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be executed by theprocessor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmwaremay be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element toemit short-range RF signals. The RF signals may power a passive NFC tag(e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transmitstored data to the NFC circuitry 1540, or initiate data transfer betweenthe NFC circuitry 1540 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphoneor an NFC-enabled POS terminal) that is proximate to the platform 1500.

The driver circuitry 1546 may include software and hardware elementsthat operate to control particular devices that are embedded in theplatform 1500, attached to the platform 1500, or otherwisecommunicatively coupled with the platform 1500. The driver circuitry1546 may include individual drivers allowing other components of theplatform 1500 to interact with or control various input/output (I/O)devices that may be present within, or connected to, the platform 1500.For example, driver circuitry 1546 may include a display driver tocontrol and allow access to a display device, a touchscreen driver tocontrol and allow access to a touchscreen interface of the platform1500, sensor drivers to obtain sensor readings of sensor circuitry 1521and control and allow access to sensor circuitry 1521, EMC drivers toobtain actuator positions of the EMCs 1522 and/or control and allowaccess to the EMCs 1522, a camera driver to control and allow access toan embedded image capture device, audio drivers to control and allowaccess to one or more audio devices.

The power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 1525 (also referred toas “power management circuitry 1525”) may manage power provided tovarious components of the platform 1500. In particular, with respect tothe baseband circuitry 1510, the PMIC 1525 may control power-sourceselection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion.The PMIC 1525 may often be included when the platform 1500 is capable ofbeing powered by a battery 1530, for example, when the device isincluded in a UE 1101, 1102, 1201.

In some embodiments, the PMIC 1525 may control, or otherwise be part of,various power saving mechanisms of the platform 1500. For example, ifthe platform 1500 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is stillconnected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, thenit may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after aperiod of inactivity. During this state, the platform 1500 may powerdown for brief intervals of time and thus save power. If there is nodata traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the platform1500 may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects fromthe network and does not perform operations such as channel qualityfeedback, handover, etc. The platform 1500 goes into a very low powerstate and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up tolisten to the network and then powers down again. The platform 1500 maynot receive data in this state; in order to receive data, it musttransition back to RRC_Connected state. An additional power saving modemay allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longerthan a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). Duringthis time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and maypower down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a largedelay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

A battery 1530 may power the platform 1500, although in some examplesthe platform 1500 may be mounted deployed in a fixed location, and mayhave a power supply coupled to an electrical grid. The battery 1530 maybe a lithium ion battery, a metal-air battery, such as a zinc-airbattery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, and the like.In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 1530may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

In some implementations, the battery 1530 may be a “smart battery,”which includes or is coupled with a Battery Management System (BMS) orbattery monitoring integrated circuitry. The BMS may be included in theplatform 1500 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 1530.The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 1530 toprovide failure predictions, such as the state of health (SoH) and thestate of function (SoF) of the battery 1530. The BMS may communicate theinformation of the battery 1530 to the application circuitry 1505 orother components of the platform 1500. The BMS may also include ananalog-to-digital (ADC) convertor that allows the application circuitry1505 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 1530 or the currentflow from the battery 1530. The battery parameters may be used todetermine actions that the platform 1500 may perform, such astransmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, and thelike.

A power block, or other power supply coupled to an electrical grid maybe coupled with the BMS to charge the battery 1530. In some examples,the power block 1525 may be replaced with a wireless power receiver toobtain the power wirelessly, for example, through a loop antenna in thecomputer platform 1500. In these examples, a wireless battery chargingcircuit may be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuitschosen may depend on the size of the battery 1530, and thus, the currentrequired. The charging may be performed using the Airfuel standardpromulgated by the Airfuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standardpromulgated by the Wireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence chargingstandard promulgated by the Alliance for Wireless Power, among others.

User interface circuitry 1550 includes various input/output (I/O)devices present within, or connected to, the platform 1500, and includesone or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with theplatform 1500 and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enableperipheral component interaction with the platform 1500. The userinterface circuitry 1550 includes input device circuitry and outputdevice circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for accepting an input including, inter alia, one or morephysical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard,keypad, mouse, touchpad, touchscreen, microphones, scanner, headset,and/or the like. The output device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for showing information or otherwise conveyinginformation, such as sensor readings, actuator position(s), or otherlike information. Output device circuitry may include any number and/orcombinations of audio or visual display, including, inter alia, one ormore simple visual outputs/indicators (e.g., binary status indicators(e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs,or more complex outputs such as display devices or touchscreens (e.g.,Liquid Chrystal Displays (LCD), LED displays, quantum dot displays,projectors, etc.), with the output of characters, graphics, multimediaobjects, and the like being generated or produced from the operation ofthe platform 1500. The output device circuitry may also include speakersor other audio emitting devices, printer(s), and/or the like. In someembodiments, the sensor circuitry 1521 may be used as the input devicecircuitry (e.g., an image capture device, motion capture device, or thelike) and one or more EMCs may be used as the output device circuitry(e.g., an actuator to provide haptic feedback or the like). In anotherexample, NFC circuitry comprising an NFC controller coupled with anantenna element and a processing device may be included to readelectronic tags and/or connect with another NFC-enabled device.Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, anon-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

Although not shown, the components of platform 1500 may communicate withone another using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, whichmay include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx,PCIe, a Time-Trigger Protocol (TTP) system, a FlexRay system, or anynumber of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietary bus/IX,for example, used in a SoC based system. Other bus/IX systems may beincluded, such as an I²C interface, an SPI interface, point-to-pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 16 illustrates example components of baseband circuitry 1610 andradio front end modules (RFEM) 1615 in accordance with variousembodiments. The baseband circuitry 1610 corresponds to the basebandcircuitry 1410 and 1510 of FIGS. 14 and 15, respectively. The RFEM 1615corresponds to the RFEM 1415 and 1515 of FIGS. 14 and 15, respectively.As shown, the RFEMs 1615 may include Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry1606, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1608, antenna array 1611 coupledtogether at least as shown.

The baseband circuitry 1610 includes circuitry and/or control logicconfigured to carry out various radio/network protocol and radio controlfunctions that enable communication with one or more radio networks viathe RF circuitry 1606. The radio control functions may include, but arenot limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radiofrequency shifting, etc. in some embodiments, modulation/demodulationcircuitry of the baseband circuitry 1610 may include Fast-FourierTransform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demappingfunctionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of thebaseband circuitry 1610 may include convolution, tail-bitingconvolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC)encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulationand encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples andmay include other suitable functionality in other embodiments. Thebaseband circuitry 1610 is configured to process baseband signalsreceived from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1606 and togenerate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry1606. The baseband circuitry 1610 is configured to interface withapplication circuitry 1405/1505 (see FIGS. 14 and 15) for generation andprocessing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of theRF circuitry 1606. The baseband circuitry 1610 may handle various radiocontrol functions.

The aforementioned circuitry and/or control logic of the basebandcircuitry 1610 may include one or more single or multi-core processors.For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G basebandprocessor 1604A, a 4G/LTE baseband processor 1604B, a 5G/NR basebandprocessor 1604C, or some other baseband processor(s) 1604D for otherexisting generations, generations in development or to be developed inthe future (e.g., sixth generation (6G), etc.). In other embodiments,some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 1604A-D may beincluded in modules stored in the memory 1604G and executed via aCentral Processing Unit (CPU) 1604E. In other embodiments, some or allof the functionality of baseband processors 1604A-D may be provided ashardware accelerators (e.g., FPGAs, ASICs, etc.) loaded with theappropriate bit streams or logic blocks stored in respective memorycells. In various embodiments, the memory 1604G may store program codeof a real-time OS (RTOS), which when executed by the CPU 1604E (or otherbaseband processor), is to cause the CPU 1604E (or other basebandprocessor) to manage resources of the baseband circuitry 1610, scheduletasks, etc. Examples of the RTOS may include Operating System Embedded(OSE)™ provided by Enea®, Nucleus RTOS™ provided by Mentor Graphics®,Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX) provided by Mentor Graphics®,ThreadX™ provided by Express Logic®, FreeRTOS, REX OS provided byQualcomm®, OKL4 provided by Open Kernel (OK) Labs®, or any othersuitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein. In addition, the basebandcircuitry 1610 includes one or more audio digital signal processor(s)(DSP) 1604F. The audio DSP(s) 1604F include elements forcompression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include othersuitable processing elements in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, each of the processors 1604A-1604E includerespective memory interfaces to send/receive data to/from the memory1604G. The baseband circuitry 1610 may further include one or moreinterfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, suchas an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to thebaseband circuitry 1610; an application circuitry interface tosend/receive data to/from the application circuitry 1405/1505 of FIGS.14-16); an RF circuitry interface to send/receive data to/from RFcircuitry 1606 of FIG. 16; a wireless hardware connectivity interface tosend/receive data to/from one or more wireless hardware elements (e.g.,Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth®/Bluetooth® LowEnergy components, Wi-Fi® components, and/or the like); and a powermanagement interface to send/receive power or control signals to/fromthe PMIC 1525.

In alternate embodiments (which may be combined with the above describedembodiments), baseband circuitry 1610 comprises one or more digitalbaseband systems, which are coupled with one another via an interconnectsubsystem and to a CPU subsystem, an audio subsystem, and an interfacesubsystem. The digital baseband subsystems may also be coupled to adigital baseband interface and a mixed-signal baseband subsystem viaanother interconnect subsystem. Each of the interconnect subsystems mayinclude a bus system, point-to-point connections, network-on-chip (NOC)structures, and/or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology,such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include DSPcircuitry, buffer memory, program memory, speech processing acceleratorcircuitry, data converter circuitry such as analog-to-digital anddigital-to-analog converter circuitry, analog circuitry including one ormore of amplifiers and filters, and/or other like components. In anaspect of the present disclosure, baseband circuitry 1610 may includeprotocol processing circuitry with one or more instances of controlcircuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the digitalbaseband circuitry and/or radio frequency circuitry (e.g., the radiofront end modules 1615).

Although not shown by FIG. 16, in some embodiments, the basebandcircuitry 1610 includes individual processing device(s) to operate oneor more wireless communication protocols (e.g., a “multi-protocolbaseband processor” or “protocol processing circuitry”) and individualprocessing device(s) to implement PHY layer functions. In theseembodiments, the PHY layer functions include the aforementioned radiocontrol functions. In these embodiments, the protocol processingcircuitry operates or implements various protocol layers/entities of oneor more wireless communication protocols. In a first example, theprotocol processing circuitry may operate LTE protocol entities and/or5G/NR protocol entities when the baseband circuitry 1610 and/or RFcircuitry 1606 are part of mmWave communication circuitry or some othersuitable cellular communication circuitry. In the first example, theprotocol processing circuitry would operate MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC,and NAS functions. In a second example, the protocol processingcircuitry may operate one or more IEEE-based protocols when the basebandcircuitry 1610 and/or RF circuitry 1606 are part of a Wi-Ficommunication system. In the second example, the protocol processingcircuitry would operate Wi-Fi MAC and logical link control (LLC)functions. The protocol processing circuitry may include one or morememory structures (e.g., 1604G) to store program code and data foroperating the protocol functions, as well as one or more processingcores to execute the program code and perform various operations usingthe data. The baseband circuitry 1610 may also support radiocommunications for more than one wireless protocol.

The various hardware elements of the baseband circuitry 1610 discussedherein may be implemented, for example, as a solder-down substrateincluding one or more integrated circuits Ks), a single packaged ICsoldered to a main circuit board or a multi-chip module containing twoor more ICs. In one example, the components of the baseband circuitry1610 may be suitably combined in a single chip or chipset, or disposedon a same circuit board. In another example, some or all of theconstituent components of the baseband circuitry 1610 and RF circuitry1606 may be implemented together such as, for example, a system on achip (SoC) or System-in-Package (SiP). In another example, some or allof the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 1610 may beimplemented as a separate SoC that is communicatively coupled with andRF circuitry 1606 (or multiple instances of RF circuitry 1606). In yetanother example, some or all of the constituent components of thebaseband circuitry 1610 and the application circuitry 1405/1505 may beimplemented together as individual SoCs mounted to a same circuit board(e.g., a “multi-chip package”).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1610 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1610 may supportcommunication with an E-UTRAN or other WMAN, a WLAN, a WPAN. Embodimentsin which the baseband circuitry 1610 is configured to support radiocommunications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to asmulti-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 1606 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry 1606 may include switches,filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with thewireless network. RF circuitry 1606 may include a receive signal path,which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from theFEM circuitry 1608 and provide baseband signals to the basebandcircuitry 1610. RF circuitry 1606 may also include a transmit signalpath, which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signalsprovided by the baseband circuitry 1610 and provide RF output signals tothe FEM circuitry 1608 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1606may include mixer circuitry 1606 a, amplifier circuitry 1606 b andfilter circuitry 1606 c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal pathof the RF circuitry 1606 may include filter circuitry 1606 c and mixercircuitry 1606 a. RF circuitry 1606 may also include synthesizercircuitry 1606 d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixercircuitry 1606 a of the receive signal path and the transmit signalpath. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1606 a of the receivesignal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received fromthe FEM circuitry 1608 based on the synthesized frequency provided bysynthesizer circuitry 1606 d. The amplifier circuitry 1606 b may beconfigured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filtercircuitry 1606 c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter(BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-convertedsignals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals maybe provided to the baseband circuitry 1610 for further processing. Insome embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequencybaseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In someembodiments, mixer circuitry 1606 a of the receive signal path maycomprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is notlimited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1606 a of the transmit signalpath may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on thesynthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1606 d togenerate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 1608. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 1610 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 1606 c.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1606 a of the receive signalpath and the mixer circuitry 1606 a of the transmit signal path mayinclude two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, themixer circuitry 1606 a of the receive signal path and the mixercircuitry 1606 a of the transmit signal path may include two or moremixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley imagerejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1606 a of thereceive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1606 a of the transmitsignal path may be arranged for direct downconversion and directupconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry1606 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1606 a of thetransmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signalsmay be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RFcircuitry 1606 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) anddigital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry1610 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RFcircuitry 1606.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1606 d may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizercircuitry 1606 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequencymultiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with afrequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 1606 d may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1606 a of the RFcircuitry 1606 based on a frequency input and a divider control input.In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1606 d may be afractional N/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Dividercontrol input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 1610 orthe application circuitry 1405/1505 depending on the desired outputfrequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may bedetermined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by theapplication circuitry 1405/1505.

Synthesizer circuitry 1606 d of the RF circuitry 1606 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured todivide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, theDLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phasedetector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments,the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Ndequal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in thedelay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to helpensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 1606 d may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someembodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In someembodiments, the RF circuitry 1606 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 1608 may include a receive signal path, which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from antennaarray 1611, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 1606 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 1608 may also include a transmit signal path,which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 1606 for transmission by oneor more of antenna elements of antenna array 1611. In variousembodiments, the amplification through the transmit or receive signalpaths may be done solely in the RF circuitry 1606, solely in the FEMcircuitry 1608, or in both the RF circuitry 1606 and the FEM circuitry1608.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1608 may include a TX/RX switchto switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry 1608 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signalpath. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1608 may include anLNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RFsignals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 1606). The transmitsignal path of the FEM circuitry 1608 may include a power amplifier (PA)to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 1606), andone or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmissionby one or more antenna elements of the antenna array 1611.

The antenna array 1611 comprises one or more antenna elements, each ofwhich is configured convert electrical signals into radio waves totravel through the air and to convert received radio waves intoelectrical signals. For example, digital baseband signals provided bythe baseband circuitry 1610 is converted into analog RF signals (e.g.,modulated waveform) that will be amplified and transmitted via theantenna elements of the antenna array 1611 including one or more antennaelements (not shown). The antenna elements may be omnidirectional,direction, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements may be formedin a multitude of arranges as are known and/or discussed herein. Theantenna array 1611 may comprise microstrip antennas or printed antennasthat are fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuitboards. The antenna array 1611 may be formed in as a patch of metal foil(e.g., a patch antenna) in a variety of shapes, and may be coupled withthe RF circuitry 1606 and/or FEM circuitry 1608 using metal transmissionlines or the like.

Processors of the application circuitry 1405/1505 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 1610 may be used to execute elements of one or moreinstances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the basebandcircuitry 1610, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3,Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the applicationcircuitry 1405/1505 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received fromthese layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., TCP andUDP layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a RRC layer,described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 maycomprise a MAC layer, an RLC layer, and a PDCP layer, described infurther detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a PHYlayer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below.

FIG. 17 illustrates various protocol functions that may be implementedin a wireless communication device according to various embodiments. Inparticular, FIG. 17 includes an arrangement 1700 showinginterconnections between various protocol layers/entities. The followingdescription of FIG. 17 is provided for various protocol layers/entitiesthat operate in conjunction with the 5G/NR system standards and LTEsystem standards, but some or all of the aspects of FIG. 17 may beapplicable to other wireless communication network systems as well.

The protocol layers of arrangement 1700 may include one or more of PHY1710, MAC 1720, RLC 1730, PDCP 1740, SDAP 1747, RRC 1755, and NAS layer1757, in addition to other higher layer functions not illustrated. Theprotocol layers may include one or more service access points (e.g.,items 1759, 1756, 1750, 1749, 1745, 1735, 1725, and 1715 in FIG. 17)that may provide communication between two or more protocol layers.

The PHY 1710 may transmit and receive physical layer signals 1705 thatmay be received from or transmitted to one or more other communicationdevices. The physical layer signals 1705 may comprise one or morephysical channels, such as those discussed herein. The PHY 1710 mayfurther perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC),power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization andhandover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers, suchas the RRC 1755. The PHY 1710 may still further perform error detectionon the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC)coding/decoding of the transport channels, modulation/demodulation ofphysical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physicalchannels, and MIMO antenna processing. In embodiments, an instance ofPHY 1710 may process requests from and provide indications to aninstance of MAC 1720 via one or more PHY-SAP 1715. According to someembodiments, requests and indications communicated via PHY-SAP 1715 maycomprise one or more transport channels.

Instance(s) of MAC 1720 may process requests from, and provideindications to, an instance of RLC 1730 via one or more MAC-SAPs 1725.These requests and indications communicated via the MAC-SAP 1725 maycomprise one or more logical channels. The MAC 1720 may perform mappingbetween the logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MACSDUs from one or more logical channels onto TBs to be delivered to PHY1710 via the transport channels, de-multiplexing MAC SDUs to one or morelogical channels from TBs delivered from the PHY 1710 via transportchannels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling informationreporting, error correction through HARQ, and logical channelprioritization.

Instance(s) of RLC 1730 may process requests from and provideindications to an instance of PDCP 1740 via one or more radio linkcontrol service access points (RLC-SAP) 1735. These requests andindications communicated via RLC-SAP 1735 may comprise one or more RLCchannels. The RLC 1730 may operate in a plurality of modes of operation,including: Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), andAcknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC 1730 may execute transfer of upper layerprotocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automatic repeatrequest (ARQ) for AM data transfers, and concatenation, segmentation andreassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transfers. The RLC 1730 mayalso execute re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transfers,reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transfers, detect duplicatedata for UM and AM data transfers, discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM datatransfers, detect protocol errors for AM data transfers, and perform RLCre-establishment.

Instance(s) of PDCP 1740 may process requests from and provideindications to instance(s) of RRC 1755 and/or instance(s) of SDAP 1747via one or more packet data convergence protocol service access points(PDCP-SAP) 1745. These requests and indications communicated viaPDCP-SAP 1745 may comprise one or more radio bearers. The PDCP 1740 mayexecute header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCPSequence Numbers (SNs), perform in-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUsat re-establishment of lower layers, eliminate duplicates of lower layerSDUs at re-establishment of lower layers for radio bearers mapped on RLCAM, cipher and decipher control plane data, perform integrity protectionand integrity verification of control plane data, control timer-baseddiscard of data, and perform security operations (e.g., ciphering,deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

Instance(s) of SDAP 1747 may process requests from and provideindications to one or more higher layer protocol entities via one ormore SDAP-SAP 1749. These requests and indications communicated viaSDAP-SAP 1749 may comprise one or more QoS flows. The SDAP 1747 may mapQoS flows to DRBs, and vice versa, and may also mark QFIs in DL and ULpackets. A single SDAP entity 1747 may be configured for an individualPDU session. In the UL direction, the NG-RAN 1110 may control themapping of QoS Flows to DRB(s) in two different ways, reflective mappingor explicit mapping. For reflective mapping, the SDAP 1747 of a LIE 1101may monitor the QFIs of the DL packets for each DRB, and may apply thesame mapping for packets flowing in the UL direction. For a DRB, theSDAP 1747 of the UE 1101 may map the UL packets belonging to the QoSflows(s) corresponding to the QoS flow ID(s) and PDU session observed inthe DL packets for that DRB. To enable reflective mapping, the NG-RAN1310 may mark DL packets over the Uu interface with a QoS flow ID. Theexplicit mapping may involve the RRC 1755 configuring the SDAP 1747 withan explicit QoS flow to DRB mapping rule, which may be stored andfollowed by the SDAP 1747. In embodiments, the SDAP 1747 may only beused in NR implementations and may not be used in LTE implementations.

The RRC 1755 may configure, via one or more management service accesspoints (M-SAP), aspects of one or more protocol layers, which mayinclude one or more instances of PHY 1710, MAC 1720, RLC 1730, PDCP 1740and SDAP 1747. In embodiments, an instance of RRC 1755 may processrequests from and provide indications to one or more NAS entities 1757via one or more RRC-SAPs 1756. The main services and functions of theRRC 1755 may include broadcast of system information (e.g., included inMIBs or SIBs related to the NAS), broadcast of system informationrelated to the access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenanceand release of an RRC connection between the UE 1101 and RAN 1110 (e.g.,RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connectionmodification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration,maintenance and release of point to point Radio Bearers, securityfunctions including key management, inter-RAT mobility, and measurementconfiguration for LIE measurement reporting. The MIBs and SIBs maycomprise one or more IEs, which may each comprise individual data fieldsor data structures.

The NAS 1757 may form the highest stratum of the control plane betweenthe UE 1101 and the AMF 1321. The NAS 1757 may support the mobility ofthe UEs 1101 and the session management procedures to establish andmaintain IP connectivity between the UE 1101 and a P-GW in LTE systems.

According to various embodiments, one or more protocol entities ofarrangement 1700 may be implemented in UEs 1101, RAN nodes 1111, AMF1321 in NR implementations or MME 1221 in LTE implementations, UPF 1302in NR implementations or S-GW 1222 and P-GW 1223 in LTE implementations,or the like to be used for control plane or user plane communicationsprotocol stack between the aforementioned devices. In such embodiments,one or more protocol entities that may be implemented in one or more ofHE 1101, gNB 1111, AMF 1321, etc. may communicate with a respective peerprotocol entity that may be implemented in or on another device usingthe services of respective lower layer protocol entities to perform suchcommunication. In some embodiments, a gNB-CU of the gNB 1111 may hostthe RRC 1755, SDAP 1747, and PDCP 1740 of the gNB that controls theoperation of one or more gNB-DUs, and the gNB-DUs of the gNB 1111 mayeach host the RLC 1730, MAC 1720, and PHY XV10 of the gNB 1111.

In a first example, a control plane protocol stack may comprise, inorder from highest layer to lowest layer, NAS XV57, RRC XV55, PDCP 1740,RLC 1730, MAC XV20, and PHY XV10. In this example, upper layers 1760 maybe built on top of the NAS XV57, which includes an IP layer 1761, anSCTP 1762, and an application layer signaling protocol (AP) 1763.

In NR implementations, the AP 1763 may be an NG application protocollayer (NGAP or NG-AP) 1763 for the NG interface 1113 defined between theNG-RAN node 1111 and the AMF 1321, or the AP 1763 may be an Xnapplication protocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 1763 for the Xn interface1112 that is defined between two or more RAN nodes 1111.

The NG-AP 1763 may support the functions of the NG interface 1113 andmay comprise Elementary Procedures (EPs). An NG-AP EP may be a unit ofinteraction between the NG-RAN node 1111 and the AMF 1321. The NG-AP1763 services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services (e.g.,services related to a UE 1101, 1102) and non-HE-associated services(e.g., services related to the whole NG interface instance between theNG-RAN node 1111 and AMF 1321). These services may include functionsincluding, but not limited to: a paging function for the sending ofpaging requests to NG-RAN nodes 1111 involved in a particular pagingarea; a HE context management function for allowing the AMF 1321 toestablish, modify, and/or release a UE context in the AMF 1321 and theNG-RAN node 1111; a mobility function for UEs 1101 in ECM-CONNECTED modefor intra-system HOs to support mobility within NG-RAN and inter-systemHOs to support mobility from/to EPS systems; a NAS Signaling Transportfunction for transporting or rerouting NAS messages between UE 1101 andAMF 1321; a NAS node selection function for determining an associationbetween the AMF 1321 and the UE 1101; NG interface managementfunction(s) for setting up the NG interface and monitoring for errorsover the NG interface; a warning message transmission function forproviding means to transfer warning messages via NG interface or cancelongoing broadcast of warning messages; a Configuration Transfer functionfor requesting and transferring of RAN configuration information (e.g.,SON information, performance measurement (PM) data, etc.) between twoRAN nodes 1111 via CN 1120; and/or other like functions.

The XnAP 1763 may support the functions of the Xn interface 1112 and maycomprise XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. TheXnAP basic mobility procedures may comprise procedures used to handle UEmobility within the NG RAN 1111 (or E-UTRAN 1210), such as handoverpreparation and cancellation procedures, SN Status Transfer procedures,UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN pagingprocedures, dual connectivity related procedures, and the like. The XnAPglobal procedures may comprise procedures that are not related to aspecific UE 1101, such as Xn interface setup and reset procedures,NG-RAN update procedures, cell activation procedures, and the like.

In LTE implementations, the AP 1763 may be an S1 Application Protocollayer (S1-AP) 1763 for the S1 interface 1113 defined between an E-UTRANnode 1111 and an MME, or the AP 1763 may be an X2 application protocollayer (X2AP or X2-AP) 1763 for the X2 interface 1112 that is definedbetween two or more E-UTRAN nodes 1111.

The S1 Application Protocol layer (S1-AP) 1763 may support the functionsof the S1 interface, and similar to the NG AP discussed previously, theS1-AP may comprise S1-AP EPs. An S1-AP EP may be a unit of interactionbetween the E-UTRAN node 1111 and an MMF 1221 within an LTE CN 1120. TheS1-AP 1763 services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services andnon UE-associated services. These services perform functions including,but not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UEcapability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transport, RANInformation Management (RIM), and configuration transfer.

The X2AP 1763 may support the functions of the X2 interface 1112 and maycomprise X2AP basic mobility procedures and X2AP global procedures. TheX2AP basic mobility procedures may comprise procedures used to handle UEmobility within the E-UTRAN 1120, such as handover preparation andcancellation procedures, SN Status Transfer procedures, UE contextretrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, dualconnectivity related procedures, and the like. The X2AP globalprocedures may comprise procedures that are not related to a specific UE1101, such as X2 interface setup and reset procedures, load indicationprocedures, error indication procedures, cell activation procedures, andthe like.

The SCTP layer (alternatively referred to as the SCTP/IP layer) 1762 mayprovide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP orXnAP messages in NR implementations, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in LTEimplementations). The SCTP 1762 may ensure reliable delivery ofsignaling messages between the RAN node 1111 and the AMF 1321/MME 1221based, in part, on the IP protocol, supported by the IP 1761. TheInternet Protocol layer (IP) 1761 may be used to perform packetaddressing and routing functionality. In some implementations the IPlayer 1761 may use point-to-point transmission to deliver and conveyPDUs. In this regard, the RAN node 1111 may comprise L2 and L1 layercommunication links (e.g., wired or wireless) with the MME/AMF toexchange information.

In a second example, a user plane protocol stack may comprise, in orderfrom highest layer to lowest layer, SDAP 1747, PDCP 1740, RLC 1730, MACXV20, and PHY XV10. The user plane protocol stack may be used forcommunication between the UE 1101, the RAN node 1111, and UPF 1302 in NRimplementations or an S-GW 1222 and P-GW 1223 in LTE implementations. Inthis example, upper layers 1751 may be built on top of the SDAP 1747,and may include a user datagram protocol (UDP) and IP security layer(UDP/IP) 1752, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocolfor the user plane layer (GTP-U) 1753, and a User Plane PDU layer (UPPDU) 1763.

The transport network layer 1754 (also referred to as a “transportlayer”) may be built on IP transport, and the GTP-U 1753 may be used ontop of the UDP/IP layer 1752 (comprising a UDP layer and IP layer) tocarry user plane PDUs (UP-PDUs). The IP layer (also referred to as the“Internet layer”) may be used to perform packet addressing and routingfunctionality. The IP layer may assign IP addresses to user data packetsin any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats, for example.

The GTP-U 1753 may be used for carrying user data within the GPRS corenetwork and between the radio access network and the core network. Theuser data transported can be packets in any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPPformats, for example. The UDP/IP 1752 may provide checksums for dataintegrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the sourceand destination, and encryption and authentication on the selected dataflows. The RAN node 1111 and the S-GW 1222 may utilize an S1-U interfaceto exchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprising an L1 layer(e.g., PHY 1710), an L2 layer (e.g., MAC 1720, RLC 1730, PDCP 1740,and/or SDAP 1747), the UDP/IP layer 1752, and the GTP-U 1753. The S-GW1222 and the P-GW 1223 may utilize an S5/S8a interface to exchange userplane data via a protocol stack comprising an L1 layer, an L2 layer, theUDP/IP layer 1752, and the GTP-U 1753. As discussed previously, NASprotocols may support the mobility of the UE 1101 and the sessionmanagement procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity betweenthe UE 1101 and the P-GW 1223.

Moreover, although not shown by FIG. 17, an application layer may bepresent above the AP 1763 and/or the transport network layer 1754. Theapplication layer may be a layer in which a user of the LIE 1101, RANnode 1111, or other network element interacts with software applicationsbeing executed, for example, by application circuitry 1405 orapplication circuitry 1505, respectively. The application layer may alsoprovide one or more interfaces for software applications to interactwith communications systems of the UE 1101 or RAN node 1111, such as thebaseband circuitry 1610. In some implementations the IP layer and/or theapplication layer may provide the same or similar functionality aslayers 5-7, or portions thereof, of the Open Systems interconnection(OSI) model (e.g., OSI Layer 7—the application layer, OSI Layer 6—thepresentation layer, and OSI Layer 5—the session layer).

FIG. 18 illustrates components of a core network in accordance withvarious embodiments. The components of the CN 1220 may be implemented inone physical node or separate physical nodes including components toread and execute instructions from a machine-readable orcomputer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium). In embodiments, the components of CN 1320 may beimplemented in a same or similar manner as discussed herein with regardto the components of CN 1220. In some embodiments, NFV is utilized tovirtualize any or all of the above-described network node functions viaexecutable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storagemediums (described in further detail below). A logical instantiation ofthe CN 1220 may be referred to as a network slice 1801, and individuallogical instantiations of the CN 1220 may provide specific networkcapabilities and network characteristics. A logical instantiation of aportion of the CN 1220 may be referred to as a network sub-slice 1802(e.g., the network sub-slice 1802 is shown to include the P-GW 1223 andthe PCRF 1226).

As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the likemay refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer toa concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code. A network instance may refer to informationidentifying a domain, which may be used for traffic detection androuting in case of different IP domains or overlapping IP addresses. Anetwork slice instance may refer to a set of network functions (NFs)instances and the resources (e.g., compute, storage, and networkingresources) required to deploy the network slice.

With respect to 5G systems (see, e.g., FIG. 13), a network slice alwayscomprises a RAN part and a CN part. The support of network slicingrelies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled bydifferent PDU sessions. The network can realize the different networkslices by scheduling and also by providing different L1/L2configurations. The UE 1301 provides assistance information for networkslice selection in an appropriate RRC message, if it has been providedby NAS. While the network can support large number of slices, the UEneed not support more than 8 slices simultaneously.

A network slice may include the CN 1320 control plane and user planeNFs, NG-RANs 1310 in a serving PLAN, and a N3IWF functions in theserving PLMN. Individual network slices may have different S-NSSAIand/or may have different SSTs. NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAOs, andeach network slice is uniquely identified by an S-NSSAI. Network slicesmay differ for supported features and network functions optimizations,and/or multiple network slice instances may deliver the sameservice/features but for different groups of UEs 1301 (e.g., enterpriseusers). For example, individual network slices may deliver differentcommitted service(s) and/or may be dedicated to a particular customer orenterprise. In this example, each network slice may have differentS-NSSAIs with the same SST but with different slice differentiators.Additionally, a single LE may be served with one or more network sliceinstances simultaneously via a 5G AN and associated with eight differentS-NSSAIs. Moreover, an AMF 1321 instance serving an individual UE 1301may belong to each of the network slice instances serving that UE.

Network Slicing in the NG-RAN 1310 involves RAN slice awareness. RANslice awareness includes differentiated handling of traffic fordifferent network slices, which have been pre-configured. Sliceawareness in the NG-RAN 1310 is introduced at the PDU session level byindicating the S-NSSAI corresponding to a PDU session in all signalingthat includes PDU session resource information. How the NG-RAN 1310supports the slice enabling in terms of NG-RAN functions (e.g., the setof network functions that comprise each slice) is implementationdependent. The NG-RAN 1310 selects the RAN part of the network sliceusing assistance information provided by the UE 1301 or the 5GC 1320,which unambiguously identifies one or more of the pre-configured networkslices in the PLMN. The NG-RAN 1310 also supports resource managementand policy enforcement between slices as per SLAs. A single NG-RAN nodemay support multiple slices, and the NG-RAN 1310 may also apply anappropriate RRM policy for the SLA in place to each supported slice. TheNG-RAN 1310 may also support QoS differentiation within a slice.

The NG-RAN 1310 may also use the UE assistance information for theselection of an AMF 1321 during an initial attach, if available. TheNG-RAN 1310 uses the assistance information for routing the initial NASto an AMF 1321. If the NG-RAN 1310 is unable to select an AMF 1321 usingthe assistance information, or the UE 1301 does not provide any suchinformation, the NG-RAN 1310 sends the NAS signaling to a default AMF1321, which may be among a pool of AMFs 1321. For subsequent accesses,the UE 1301 provides a temp ID, which is assigned to the UE 1301 by the5GC 1320, to enable the NG-RAN 1310 to route the NAS message to theappropriate AMF 1321 as long as the temp ID is valid. The NG-RAN 1310 isaware of, and can reach, the AMY 1321 that is associated with the tempID. Otherwise, the method for initial attach applies.

The NG-RAN 1310 supports resource isolation between slices. NG-RAN 1310resource isolation may be achieved by means of RRM policies andprotection mechanisms that should avoid that shortage of sharedresources if one slice breaks the service level agreement for anotherslice. In some implementations, it is possible to fully dedicate NG-RAN1310 resources to a certain slice. How NG-RAN 1310 supports resourceisolation is implementation dependent.

Some slices may be available only in part of the network. Awareness inthe NG-RAN 1310 of the slices supported in the cells of its neighborsmay be beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in connected mode. Theslice availability may not change within the UE's registration area. TheNG-RAN 1310 and the 5GC 1320 are responsible to handle a service requestfor a slice that may or may not be available in a given area. Admissionor rejection of access to a slice may depend on factors such as supportfor the slice, availability of resources, support of the requestedservice by NG-RAN 1310.

The UE 1301 may be associated with multiple network slicessimultaneously. In case the UE 1301 is associated with multiple slicessimultaneously, only one signaling connection is maintained, and forintra-frequency cell reselection, the UE 1301 tries to camp on the bestcell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, dedicated priorities can beused to control the frequency on which the UE 1301 camps. The 5GC 1320is to validate that the UE 1301 has the rights to access a networkslice. Prior to receiving an Initial Context Setup Request message, theNGRAN 1310 may be allowed to apply some provisional/local policies,based on awareness of a particular slice that the UE 1301 is requestingto access. During the initial context setup, the NG-RAN 1310 is informedof the slice for which resources are being requested.

NFV architectures and infrastructures may be used to virtualize one ormore NFs, alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, onto physicalresources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware,storage hardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems can be usedto execute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPCcomponents/functions.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, of a system 1900 to support NFV. The system 1900 isillustrated as including a VIM 1902, an NEVI 1904, an VNFM 1906, VNFs1908, an EM 1910, an NFVO 1912, and a NM 1914.

The VIM 1902 manages the resources of the NFVI 1904. The NFVI 1904 caninclude physical or virtual resources and applications (includinghypervisors) used to execute the system 1900. The VIM 1902 may managethe life cycle of virtual resources with the NFVI 1904 (e.g., creation,maintenance, and tear down of VMs associated with one or more physicalresources), track VM instances, track performance, fault and security ofVM instances and associated physical resources, and expose VM instancesand associated physical resources to other management systems.

The VNFM 1906 may manage the VNFs 1908. The VNFs 1908 may be used toexecute EPC components/functions. The VNFM 1906 may manage the lifecycle of the VNFs 1908 and track performance, fault and security of thevirtual aspects of VNFs 1908. The EM 1910 may track the performance,fault and security of the functional aspects of VNFs 1908. The trackingdata from the VNFM 1906 and the EM 1910 may comprise, for example, PMdata used by the VIM 1902 or the NFVI 1904. Both the VNFM 1906 and theEM 1910 can scale up/down the quantity of VNFs of the system 1900.

The NFVO 1912 may coordinate, authorize, release and engage resources ofthe NFVI 1904 in order to provide the requested service (e.g., toexecute an EPC function, component, or slice). The NM 1914 may provide apackage of end-user functions with the responsibility for the managementof a network, which may include network elements with VNFs,non-virtualized network functions, or both (management of the VNFs mayoccur via the EM 1910).

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readableor computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 20 shows a diagrammaticrepresentation of hardware resources 2000 including one or moreprocessors (or processor cores) 2010, one or more memory/storage devices2020, and one or more communication resources 2030, each of which may becommunicatively coupled via a bus 2040. For embodiments where nodevirtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 2002 may beexecuted to provide an execution environment for one or more networkslices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 2000.

The processors 2010 may include, for example, a processor 2012 and aprocessor 2014. The processor(s) 2010 may be, for example, a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC)processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, agraphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, anASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), anotherprocessor (including those discussed herein), or any suitablecombination thereof.

The memory/storage devices 2020 may include main memory, disk storage,or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 2020 mayinclude, but are not limited to, any type of volatile or nonvolatilememory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random accessmemory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flashmemory; solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 2030 may include interconnection or networkinterface components or other suitable devices to communicate with oneor more peripheral devices 2004 or one or more databases 2006 via anetwork 2008. For example, the communication resources 2030 may includewired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB), cellularcommunication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® LowEnergy) components, Wi-Fi®) components, and other communicationcomponents.

Instructions 2050 may comprise software, a program, an application, anapplet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of theprocessors 2010 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. The instructions 2050 may reside, completely orpartially, within at least one of the processors 2010 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), the memory/storage devices 2020, or anysuitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of theinstructions 2050 may be transferred to the hardware resources 2000 fromany combination of the peripheral devices 2004 or the databases 2006.The instructions 2050 can perform one or more operations with respect toFIGS. 21A-21C and 22. Accordingly, the memory of processors 2010, thememory/storage devices 2020, the peripheral devices 2004, and thedatabases 2006 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readablemedia.

Example Procedures

In some embodiments, the electronic device(s), network(s), system(s),chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementations thereof, ofFIGS. 11-20, or some other figure herein, may be configured to performone or more processes, techniques, or methods as described herein, orportions thereof. One such process is depicted in FIG. 22.

For example, the process may include a method 2200 of semi-staticresource configuration in an integrated access and backhaul (IAB)network. As summarized above and illustrated in FIG. 22, operation 2202includes determining or causing to determine that a downlink timeresource (D), an uplink time resource (U), or a flexible time resource(F) is a not available time resource (NA), a hard time resource (H), ora soft time resource (S). Operation 2204 includes indicating or causingto indicate a result of the determination using an F1 applicationprotocol (F1AP) signaling technique or a radio resource control (RRC)signaling technique from a control unit (CU) of an IAB donor to an IABdistributed unit (DU), wherein the IAB DU refers to a DU of an LAB node,a mobile termination (MT) of an IAB node, or a user equipment (UE) of anIAB node.

For one or more embodiments, at least one of the component(s),device(s), system(s), or portions thereof that are set forth in one ormore of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or moreoperations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth in theexample section below. For example, the baseband circuitry as describedabove in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may beconfigured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples setforth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, basestation, network element; etc. as described above in connection with oneor more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate inaccordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in theexample section. For yet another example, an apparatus may be configuredto operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forthbelow. For one more example, an apparatus may comprise means foroperating in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth belowin the example section.

EXAMPLES

The examples set forth herein are illustrative and not exhaustive.

Example 1 may include semi-static resource configuration regardingdownlink/uplink/flexible/not available/hard/soft pool (D/U/F/NA/H/S) canbe indicated through the following two signaling options:

-   -   Introduce new FLAP signaling from the CU of IAB donor to the DU        of the IAB node;    -   Introduce new RRC signaling from the CU of IAB donor to the MT        of the IAB node.

Example 2 may include semi-static configuration for an IAB DU regardingdownlink/uplink/flexible/not available/hard/soft pool (D/U/F/NA/H/S)should be per-link based (specific configuration for each child link ofone DU).

Example 3 may include several schemes for per-link semi-staticconfiguration for an LAB DU:

Scheme 1: An IAB DU's per-link semi-static configuration considersH/S/NA indication, the per-link D/U/F configuration is aligned with eachchild link's D/U/F configuration, and no additional per-link D/U/Fconfiguration is needed for the DU, where the notation of D/U/F/NA/H/Sstands for downlink/uplink/flexible/not available/hard/softrespectively.

-   -   Option 1A: DU's per-link semi-static configuration considers        S/NA indication on flexible resources.        -   Scheme 1A-1: Indicate S/NA for the flexible resources.        -   Scheme 1A-2: Indicate S-D/S-U/NA for the flexible resources.        -   Scheme 1A-3: Indicate S-D/S-U/S-F/NA for the flexible            resources.        -   Scheme 1A-4: Indicate S-D/S-U/NA for the flexible resources            and implicitly indicate S-F.    -   Option 1-B: DU's per-link semi-static configuration considers        H/S/NA indication on flexible resources.        -   Scheme 1B-1: indicate HIS/NA for the flexible resources.        -   Scheme 1B-2: Indicate H-D/H-U/S-D/S-U/NA for the flexible            resources.        -   Scheme 1B-3: Indicate H-D/H-U/H-F/S-D/S-U/S-F/NA for the            flexible resources.        -   Scheme 1B-4: Indicate H-D/H-U/S-D/S-U/NA for the flexible            resources and implicitly indicate H-F/S-F.        -   Other schemes for H/S/NA (signaling three or two or one of            them) can be further found in U.S. Provisional Application            No. 62/790,386.    -   Option 1C: DU's per-link semi-static configuration considers        H/S/NA indication on D/U/F resources that aligned with a        C-MT/C-UE        -   For the per-link HIS/NA configuration at an IAB DU on the            child link's downlink (D) or uplink (U) resources, H/S/NA            indication can be included, and no additional DL/UL            direction indication for H/S may be needed.        -   For the per-link HIS/NA configuration at an IAB DU the child            link's flexible (F) resources, schemes listed in Scheme            1/Option 1B and in U.S. Provisional Application No.            62/790,386 can be applied.

Scheme 2: An IAB DU's per-link semi-static configuration includesD/U/F/NA indications that do not overlap with each other and H/Sindication on the configured D/U/F.

Scheme 3: An IAB DU's per-link semi-static configuration includeshard-downlink/hard-uplink/hard-flexible/soft-downlink/soft-uplink/soft-flexible/notavailable (H-D/H-U/H-F/S-D/S-U/S-F/NA) indications.

Example 4 may include the schemes set forth in example 3 can be appliednot only for time-domain resource partitioning, but also forfrequency-domain resource partitioning.

Example 5 may include the schemes set forth in example 3 can be appliednot only for the DL-UL configuration pattern (DL-F-UL pattern) incurrent NR specifications, but also for any new configuration pattern(UL-F-DL pattern for example) for an IAB MT/UE or an LAB DU.

Example 6 may include a method of semi-static resource configuration inan integrated access and backhaul (IAB) network, comprising:

determining or causing to determine that a downlink time resource (D),an uplink time resource (U), or a flexible time resource (F) is a notavailable time resource (NA), a hard time resource (H), or a soft timeresource (S); and

indicating or causing to indicate a result of the determination using anF1 application protocol (FLAP) signaling technique or a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling technique from a control unit (CU) of an IABdonor to an IAB distributed unit (DU), wherein the IAB DU refers to a DUof an IAB node, a mobile termination (MT) of an IAB node, or a userequipment (UE) of an IAB node.

Example 7 may include the method of example 6, wherein determining orcausing to determine that a D, a U, or an F is an NA, an H, or an Scomprises: receiving or causing to receiving, from a child of the IABDU, information indicating the child has a D, U, and an F;

configuring or causing to configure each of a D associated with the IABDU to be equal to the D associated with the child, a U associated withthe IAB DU to be equal to the U associated with the child, and an Fassociated with the IAB DU to be equal to the F associated with thechild; and

determining or causing to determine whether: (i) the D associated withchild is an H, an S, or an NA; (ii) the U associated with child is an H,an S, or an NA; and (iii) the F associated with child is an H, an S, oran NA.

Example 8 may include the method of example 6, wherein determining orcausing to determine that a D, a U, or an F is an NA, an H, or an Scomprises:

determining or causing to determine a D, U, F, and an NA associated withthe IAB DU, wherein each of the D, U, F, and NA do not overlap; and

determining or causing to determine whether: (i) the D associated withchild is an H or an S; (ii) the U associated with child is an H or an S;and (iii) the F associated with child is an H or an S.

Example 9 may include the method of example 6, wherein determining orcausing to determine that a D, a U, an F is an NA, an H, or an Scomprises:

determining or causing to determine a D, U, and F associated with theIAB DU; and

determining or causing to determine whether: (i) the D associated withchild is a hard D (H-D), a soft D (S-D), a hard U (H-U), a soft U (S-U),a hard F (H-F), a soft F (S-F), or an NA; (ii) the U associated withchild is an H-D, an S-D, an H-U, an S-U, an H-F, an S-F, or an NA; and(iii) the F associated with child is an H-D, an S-D, an H-U, an S-U, anH-F, an S-F, or an NA.

Example 10 may include the method of example 6, wherein each of the D,the U, and the F comprises a time-domain resource or a frequency-domainresource.

Example 11 may include an apparatus for semi-static resourceconfiguration in an integrated access and backhaul (LAB) network,comprising:

means for determining that a downlink time resource (D), an uplink timeresource (U), or a flexible time resource (F) is a not available timeresource (NA), a hard time resource (H), or a soft time resource (S);and

means for indicating a result of the determination using an F1application protocol (F1AP) signaling technique or a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling technique from a control unit (CU) of an IABdonor to an IAB distributed unit (DU), wherein the IAB DU refers to a DUof an IAB node, a mobile termination (MT) of an IAB node, or a userequipment (UE) of an IAB node.

Example 12 may include the apparatus of example 11, wherein the meansfor determining that a D, a U, or an F is an NA, an H, or an Scomprises:

means for receiving, from a child of the IAB DU, information indicatingthe child has a D, U, and an F;

means for configuring each of a D associated with the IAB DU to be equalto the D associated with the child, a U associated with the IAB DU to beequal to the U associated with the child, and an F associated with theIAB DU to be equal to the F associated with the child; and

means for determining whether: (i) the D associated with child is an H,an S, or an NA; (ii) the U associated with child is an H, an S, or anNA; and (iii) the F associated with child is an H, an S, or an NA.

Example 13 may include the apparatus of example 11, wherein the meansfor determining that a D, a U, or an F is an NA, an H, or an Scomprises:

means for determining a D, U, F, and an NA associated with the IAB DU,wherein each of the D, U, F, and NA do not overlap; and

means for determining whether: (i) the D associated with child is an Hor an S; (ii) the U associated with child is an H or an S; and (iii) theF associated with child is an H or an S.

Example 14 may include the apparatus of example 11, wherein the meansfor determining that a D, a U, an F is an NA, an H, or an S comprises:

means for determining a D, U, and F associated with the IAB DU;

means for determining whether: (i) the D associated with child is a hardD (H-D), a soft D (S-D), a hard U (H-U), a soft U (S-U), a hard F (H-F),a soft F (S-F), or an NA; (ii) the U associated with child is an H-D, anS-D, an H-U, an S-U, an H-F, an S-F, or an NA; and (iii) the Fassociated with child is an H-D, an S-D, an H-U, an S-U, an H-F, an S-F,or an NA.

Example 15 may include the apparatus of example 11, wherein each of theD, the U, and the F comprises a time-domain resource or afrequency-domain resource.

Example 16 may include an apparatus for semi-static resourceconfiguration in an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) network,configured to:

determine that a downlink time resource (D), an uplink time resource(U), or a flexible time resource (F) is a not available time resource(NA), a hard time resource (H), or a soft time resource (S); and

means for indicating a result of the determination using an F1application protocol (F1AP) signaling technique or a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling technique from a control unit (CU) of an IABdonor to an IAB distributed unit (DU), wherein the IAB DU refers to a DUof an IAB node, a mobile termination (MT) of an IAB node, or a userequipment (UE) of an IAB node.

Example 17 may include the apparatus of example 16, wherein theapparatus configured to determine that a D, a U, or an F is an NA, an H,or an S comprises the apparatus configured to:

receive, from a child of the IAB DU, information indicating the childhas a D, U, and an F;

configure each of a D associated with the IAB DU to be equal to the Dassociated with the child, a U associated with the IAB DU to be equal tothe U associated with the child, and an F associated with the IAB DU tobe equal to the F associated with the child; and

determine whether: (i) the D associated with child is an H, an S, or anNA; (ii) the U associated with child is an H, an S, or an NA; and (iii)the F associated with child is an H, an S, or an NA.

Example 18 may include the apparatus of example 16, wherein theapparatus configured to determine that a D, a U, or an F is an NA, an H,or an S comprises the apparatus configured to:

determine a D, U, F, and an NA associated with the IAB DU, wherein eachof the D, U, F, and NA do not overlap; and

determine whether: (i) the D associated with child is an H or an S; (ii)the U associated with child is an H or an S; and (iii) the F associatedwith child is an H or an S.

Example 19 may include the apparatus of example 16, wherein theapparatus configured to determine that a D, a U, or an F is an NA, an H,or an S comprises the apparatus configured to:

determine a D, U, and F associated with the IAB DU;

determine whether: (i) the D associated with child is a hard D (H-D), asoft D (S-D), a hard U (H-U), a soft U (S-U), a hard F (H-F), a soft F(S-F), or an NA; (ii) the U associated with child is an H-D, an S-D, anH-U, an S-U, an H-F, an S-F, or an NA; and (iii) the F associated withchild is an H-D, an S-D, an H-U, an S-U, an H-F, an S-F, or an NA.

Example 20 may include the apparatus of example 16, wherein each of theD, the U, and the F comprises a time-domain resource or afrequency-domain resource.

Example 21 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one ormore elements of a method described in or related to any of examples1-20, or any other method or process described herein.

Example 22 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, uponexecution of the instructions by one or more processors of theelectronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method describedin or related to any of examples 1-20, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 23 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, orcircuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in orrelated to any of examples 1-20, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example 24 may include a method, technique, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-20, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 25 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processorsand one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-20, or portions thereof.

Example 26 may include a signal as described in or related to any ofexamples 1-20, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 27 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown anddescribed herein.

Example 28 may include a method of communicating in a wireless networkas shown and described herein.

Example 29 may include a system for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Example 30 may include a device for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Example 31 may include an apparatus according to any of any one ofexamples 1-20, wherein the apparatus or any portion thereof isimplemented in or by a user equipment (UE).

Example 32 may include a method according to any of any one of examples1-20, wherein the method or any portion thereof is implemented in or bya user equipment (UE).

Example 33 may include an apparatus according to any of any one ofexamples 1-20, wherein the apparatus or any portion thereof isimplemented in or by a base station (BS).

Example 34 may include a method according to any of any one of examples1-20, wherein the method or any portion thereof is implemented in or bya base station (BS).

Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any otherexample (or combination of examples), unless explicitly statedotherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementationsprovides illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise formdisclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

Abbreviations

For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviationsmay apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein, but are notmeant to be limiting.

-   -   3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project    -   4G Fourth Generation    -   5G Fifth Generation    -   5GC 5G Core network    -   ACK Acknowledgement    -   AF Application Function    -   AM Acknowledged Mode    -   AMBR Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate    -   AMF Access and Mobility Management Function    -   AN Access Network    -   ANR Automatic Neighbour Relation    -   AP Application Protocol, Antenna Port, Access Point    -   API Application Programming Interface    -   APN Access Point Name    -   ARP Allocation and Retention Priority    -   ARCS Automatic Repeat Request    -   AS Access Stratum    -   ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation One    -   AUSF Authentication Server Function    -   AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise    -   BCH Broadcast Channel    -   BER Bit Error Ratio    -   BFD Beam Failure Detection    -   BLER Block Error Rate    -   BPSK Binary Phase Shift Keying    -   BRAS Broadband Remote Access Server    -   BSS Business Support System    -   BS Base Station    -   BSR Buffer Status Report    -   BW Bandwidth    -   BWP Bandwidth Part    -   C-RNTI Cell Radio Network Temporary Identity    -   CA Carrier Aggregation, Certification Authority    -   CAPEX CAPital EXpenditure    -   CBRA Contention Based Random Access    -   CC Component Carrier, Country Code, Cryptographic Checksum    -   CCA Clear Channel Assessment    -   CCE Control Channel Element    -   CCCH Common Control Channel    -   CE Coverage Enhancement    -   CDM Content Delivery Network    -   CDMA Code-Division Multiple Access    -   CFRA Contention Free Random Access    -   CG Cell Group    -   CI Cell Identity    -   CID Cell-ID (e.g., positioning method)    -   CIM Common Information Model    -   CIR Carrier to Interference Ratio    -   CK Cipher Key    -   CM Connection Management, Conditional Mandatory    -   CMAS Commercial Mobile Alert Service    -   CMD Command    -   CMS Cloud Management System    -   CO Conditional Optional    -   CoMP Coordinated Multi-Point    -   CORESET Control Resource Set    -   COTS Commercial Off-The-Shelf    -   CP Control Plane, Cyclic Prefix, Connection Point    -   CPD Connection Point Descriptor    -   CPE Customer Premise Equipment    -   CPICH Common Pilot Channel    -   CQI Channel Quality Indicator    -   CPU CSI processing unit, Central Processing Unit    -   C/R Command/Response field bit    -   CRAN Cloud Radio Access Network, Cloud RAN    -   CRB Common Resource Block    -   CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check    -   CRI Channel-State Information Resource Indicator, CSI-RS        Resource Indicator    -   C-RNTI Cell RNTI    -   CS Circuit Switched    -   CSAR Cloud Service Archive    -   CSI Channel-State Information    -   CSI-IM CSI Interference Measurement    -   CSI-RS CSI Reference Signal    -   CSI-RSRP CSI reference signal received power    -   CSI-RSRQ CSI reference signal received quality    -   CSI-SINR CSI signal-to-noise and interference ratio    -   CSMA Carrier Sense Multiple Access    -   CSMA/CA CSMA with collision avoidance    -   CSS Common Search Space, Cell-specific Search Space    -   CTS Clear-to-Send    -   CW Codeword    -   CWS Contention Window Size    -   D2D Device-to-Device    -   DC Dual Connectivity, Direct Current    -   DCI Downlink Control Information    -   DF Deployment Flavour    -   DL Downlink    -   DMTF Distributed Management Task Force    -   DPDK Data Plane Development Kit    -   DM-RS, DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal    -   DN Data network    -   DRB Data Radio Bearer    -   DRS Discovery Reference Signal    -   DRX Discontinuous Reception    -   DSL Domain Specific Language. Digital Subscriber Line    -   DSLAM DSL Access Multiplexer    -   DwPTS Downlink Pilot Time Slot    -   E-LAN Ethernet Local Area Network    -   E2E End-to-End    -   ECCA extended clear channel assessment, extended CCA    -   ECCE Enhanced Control Channel Element, Enhanced CCE    -   ED Energy Detection    -   EDGE Enhanced Datarates for GSM Evolution (GSM Evolution)    -   EGMF Exposure Governance Management Function    -   EGPRS Enhanced GPRS    -   EIR Equipment Identity Register    -   eLAA enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, enhanced LAA    -   EM Element Manager    -   eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband    -   EMS Element Management System    -   eNB evolved NodeB, E-UTRAN Node B    -   EN-DC E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity    -   EPC Evolved Packet Core    -   EPDCCH enhanced PDCCH, enhanced Physical Downlink Control Cannel    -   EPRE Energy per resource element    -   EPS Evolved Packet System    -   EREG enhanced REG, enhanced resource element groups    -   ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute    -   ETWS Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System    -   eUICC embedded UICC, embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card    -   E-UTRA Evolved UTRA    -   E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN    -   EV2X Enhanced V2X    -   F1AP F1 Application Protocol    -   F1-C F1 Control plane interface    -   F1-U F1 User plane interface    -   FACCH Fast Associated Control CHannel    -   FACCH/F Fast Associated Control Channel/Full rate    -   FACCH/H Fast Associated Control Channel/Half rate    -   FACH Forward Access Channel    -   FAUSCH Fast Uplink Signalling Channel    -   FB Functional Block    -   FBI Feedback Information    -   FCC Federal Communications Commission    -   FCCH Frequency Correction CHannel    -   FDD Frequency Division Duplex    -   FDM Frequency Division Multiplex    -   FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access    -   FE Front End    -   FEC Forward Error Correction    -   FFS For Further Study    -   FFT Fast Fourier Transformation    -   feLAA further enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, further        enhanced LAA    -   FN Frame Number    -   FPGA Field-Programmable Gate Array    -   FR Frequency Range    -   G-RNTI GERAN Radio Network Temporary Identity    -   GERAN GSM EDGE RAN, GSM EDGE Radio Access Network    -   GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node    -   GLONASS GLObal'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (Engl.:        Global Navigation Satellite System)    -   gNB Next Generation NodeB    -   gNB-CU gNB-centralized unit, Next Generation NodeB centralized        unit    -   gNB-DU gNB-distributed unit, Next Generation NodeB distributed        unit    -   GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System    -   GPRS General Packet Radio Service    -   GSM Global System for Mobile Communications, Groupe Spécial        Mobile    -   GTP GPRS Tunneling Protocol    -   GTP-U GPRS Tunnelling Protocol for User Plane    -   GTS Go To Sleep Signal (related to WUS)    -   GUMMEI Globally Unique MME Identifier    -   GUTI Globally Unique Temporary UE Identity    -   HARQ Hybrid ARQ, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request    -   HANDO, HO Handover    -   HFN HyperFrame Number    -   HHO Hard Handover    -   HLR Home Location Register    -   HN Home Network    -   HO Handover    -   HPLMN Home Public Land Mobile Network    -   HSDPA High Speed Downlink Packet Access    -   HSN Hopping Sequence Number    -   HSPA High Speed Packet Access    -   HSS Home Subscriber Server    -   HSUPA High Speed Uplink Packet Access    -   HTTP Hyper Text Transfer Protocol    -   HTTPS Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (https is http/1.1        over SSL, i.e. port 443)    -   I-Block Information Block    -   ICCID Integrated Circuit Card Identification    -   ICIC Inter-Cell Interference Coordination    -   ID Identity, identifier    -   IDFT Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform    -   IE Information element    -   IBE In-Band Emission    -   IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers    -   IEI Information Element Identifier    -   IEIDL Information Element Identifier Data. Length    -   IETF Internet Engineering Task Force    -   IF Infrastructure    -   IM Interference Measurement, Intermodulation, IP Multimedia    -   IMC IMS Credentials    -   IMFI International Mobile Equipment Identity    -   IMGI International mobile group identity    -   IMPI IP Multimedia Private Identity    -   IMPU IP Multimedia PUblic identity    -   IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem    -   IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity    -   IoT Internet of Things    -   IP Internet Protocol    -   Ipsec IP Security, Internet Protocol Security    -   IP-CAN IP-Connectivity Access Network    -   IP-M IP Multicast    -   IPv4 Internet Protocol Version 4    -   IPv6 Internet Protocol Version 6    -   IR Infrared    -   IS In Sync    -   IRP Integration Reference Point    -   ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network    -   ISIM IM Services Identity Module    -   ISO International Organisation for Standardisation    -   ISP Internet Service Provider    -   IWF Interworking-Function    -   I-WLAN Interworking WLAN    -   K Constraint length of the convolutional code, USIM Individual        key    -   kB Kilobyte (1000 bytes)    -   kbps kilo-bits per second    -   Kc Ciphering key    -   Ki Individual subscriber authentication key    -   KPI Key Performance Indicator    -   KQI Key Quality Indicator    -   KSI Key Set Identifier    -   ksps kilo-symbols per second    -   KVM Kernel Virtual Machine    -   L1 Layer 1 (physical layer)    -   L1-RSRP Layer 1 reference signal received power    -   L2 Layer 2 (data link layer)    -   L3 Layer 3 (network layer)    -   LAA Licensed Assisted Access    -   LAN Local Area Network    -   LBT Listen Before Talk    -   LCM LifeCycle Management    -   LCR Low Chip Rate    -   LCS Location Services    -   LCID Logical Channel ID    -   LI Layer Indicator    -   LLC Logical Link Control, Low Layer Compatibility    -   LPLMN Local PLAIN    -   LPP LTE Positioning Protocol    -   LSB Least Significant Bit    -   LTE Long Term Evolution    -   LWA LTE-WLAN aggregation    -   LWIP LTE/WLAN Radio Level Integration with IPsec Tunnel    -   LTE Long Term Evolution    -   M2M Machine-to-Machine    -   MAC Medium Access Control (protocol layering context)    -   MAC Message authentication code (security/encryption context)    -   MAC-A MAC used for authentication and key agreement (TSG T WG3        context)    -   MAC-I MAC used for data integrity of signalling messages (TSG T        WG3 context)    -   MANO Management and Orchestration    -   MBMS Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service    -   MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency        Network    -   MCC Mobile Country Code    -   MCG Master Cell Group    -   MCOT Maximum Channel Occupancy Time    -   MCS Modulation and coding scheme    -   MDAF Management Data Analytics Function    -   MDAS Management Data Analytics Service    -   MDT Minimization of Drive Tests    -   ME Mobile Equipment    -   MeNB master eNB    -   MFR Message Error Ratio    -   MGL Measurement Gap Length    -   MGRP Measurement Gap Repetition Period    -   MIB Master Information Block, Management Information Base    -   MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output    -   MLC Mobile Location Centre    -   MM Mobility Management    -   MME Mobility Management Entity    -   MN Master Node    -   MO Measurement Object, Mobile Originated    -   MPBCH MTC Physical Broadcast CHannel    -   MPDCCH MTC Physical Downlink Control CHannel    -   MPDSCH MTC Physical Downlink Shared CHannel    -   MPRACH MTC Physical Random Access CHannel    -   MPUSCH MTC Physical Uplink Shared Channel    -   MPLS MultiProtocol Label Switching    -   MS Mobile Station    -   MSB Most Significant Bit    -   MSC Mobile Switching Centre    -   MSI Minimum System information, MCH Scheduling Information    -   MSID Mobile Station Identifier    -   MSIN Mobile Station Identification Number    -   MSISDN Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number    -   MT Mobile Terminated, Mobile Teiinination    -   MTC Machine-Type Communications    -   mMTC massive MTC, massive Machine-Type Communications    -   MU-MIMO Multi User MIMO    -   MWUS MTC wake-up signal, MTC WUS    -   NACK Negative Acknowledgement    -   NAI Network Access Identifier    -   NAS Non-Access Stratum, Non-Access Stratum layer    -   NCT Network Connectivity Topology    -   NEC Network Capability Exposure    -   NE-DC NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity    -   NEF Network Exposure Function    -   NF Network Function    -   NFP Network Forwarding Path    -   NFPD Network Forwarding Path Descriptor    -   NFV Network Functions Virtualization    -   NFVI NFV Infrastructure    -   NFVO NFV Orchestrator    -   NG Next Generation, Next Gen    -   NGEN-DC NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity    -   NM Network Manager    -   NMS Network Management System    -   N-PoP Network Point of Presence    -   NMIB, N-MIB Narrowband MIB    -   NPBCH Narrowband Physical Broadcast CHannel    -   NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control CHannel    -   NPDSCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared CHannel    -   NPRACH Narrowband Physical Random Access CHannel    -   NPUSCH Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared CHannel    -   NPSS Narrowband Primary Synchronization Signal    -   NSSS Narrowband Secondary Synchronization Signal    -   NR New Radio, Neighbour Relation    -   NRF NF Repository Function    -   NRS Narrowband Reference Signal    -   NS Network Service    -   NSA Non-Standalone operation mode    -   NSD Network Service Descriptor    -   NSR Network Service Record    -   NSSAI Network Slice Selection Assistance Information    -   S-NNSAI Single-NSSAI    -   NSSF Network Slice Selection Function    -   NW Network    -   NWUS Narrowband wake-up signal, Narrowband WUS    -   NZP Non-Zero Power    -   O&M Operation and Maintenance    -   ODU2 Optical channel Data Unit—type 2    -   OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing    -   OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access    -   OOB Out-of-band    -   OOS Out of Sync    -   OPEX OPerating EXpense    -   OSI Other System Information    -   OSS Operations Support System    -   OTA over-the-air    -   PAPR Peak-to-Average Power Ratio    -   PAR Peak to Average Ratio    -   PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel    -   PC Power Control, Personal Computer    -   PCC Primary Component Carrier, Primary CC    -   PCell Primary Cell    -   PCI Physical Cell ID, Physical Cell Identity    -   PCEF Policy and Charging Enforcement Function    -   PCF Policy Control Function    -   PCRF Policy Control and Charging Rules Function    -   PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol, Packet Data Convergence        Protocol layer    -   PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel    -   PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol    -   PDN Packet Data Network, Public Data Network    -   PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel    -   PDU Protocol Data Unit    -   PEI Permanent Equipment Identifiers    -   PFD Packet Flow Description    -   P-GW PDN Gateway    -   PHICH Physical hybrid-ARQ indicator channel    -   PHY Physical layer    -   PLMN Public Land Mobile Network    -   PIN Personal Identification Number    -   PM Performance Measurement    -   PMI Precoding Matrix Indicator    -   PNT Physical Network Function    -   PNFD Physical Network Function Descriptor    -   PNTR Physical Network Function Record    -   POC PTT over Cellular    -   PP, PTP Point-to-Point    -   PPP Point-to-Point Protocol    -   PRACH Physical RACH    -   PRB Physical resource block    -   PRG Physical resource block group    -   ProSe Proximity Services, Proximity-Based Service    -   PRS Positioning Reference Signal    -   PRR Packet Reception Radio    -   PS Packet Services    -   PSBCH Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel    -   PSDCH Physical Sidelink Downlink Channel    -   PSCCH Physical Sidelink Control Channel    -   PSSCH Physical Sidelink Shared Channel    -   PSCeil Primary SCell    -   PSS Primary Synchronization Signal    -   PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network    -   PT-RS Phase-tracking reference signal    -   PTT Push-to-Talk    -   PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel    -   PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel    -   QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation    -   QCI QoS class of identifier    -   QCL Quasi co-location    -   QFI QoS Flow ID, QoS Flow Identifier    -   QoS Quality of Service    -   QPSK Quadrature (Quaternary) Phase Shift Keying    -   QZSS Quasi-Zenith Satellite System    -   RA-RNTI Random Access RNTI    -   RAB Radio Access Bearer, Random Access Burst    -   RACH Random Access Channel    -   RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In User Service    -   RAN Radio Access Network    -   RAND RANDom number (used for authentication)    -   RAR Random Access Response    -   RAT Radio Access Technology    -   RAU Routing Area Update    -   RB Resource block, Radio Bearer    -   RBG Resource block group    -   REG Resource Element Group    -   Rel Release    -   REQ REQuest    -   RF Radio Frequency    -   RI Rank Indicator    -   RIV Resource indicator value    -   RL Radio Link    -   RLC Radio Link Control, Radio Link Control layer    -   RLC AM RLC Acknowledged Mode    -   RLC UM RLC Unacknowledged Mode    -   RLF Radio Link Failure    -   RLM Radio Link Monitoring    -   RLM-RS Reference Signal for RLM    -   RM Registration Management    -   RMC Reference Measurement Channel    -   RMSI Remaining MSI, Remaining Minimum System Information    -   RN Relay Node    -   RNC Radio Network Controller    -   RNL Radio Network Layer    -   RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier    -   ROHC RObust Header Compression    -   RRC Radio Resource Control, Radio Resource Control layer    -   RRM Radio Resource Management    -   RS Reference Signal    -   RSRP Reference Signal Received Power    -   RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality    -   RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator    -   RSU Road Side Unit    -   RSTD Reference Signal Time difference    -   RTP Real Time Protocol    -   RTS Ready-To-Send    -   RTT Round Trip Time    -   Rx Reception, Receiving, Receiver    -   S1AP S1 Application Protocol    -   S1-MME S1 for the control plane    -   S1-U S1 for the user plane    -   S-GW Serving Gateway    -   S-RNTI SRNC Radio Network Temporary Identity    -   S-TMSI SAE Temporary Mobile Station Identifier    -   SA Standalone operation mode    -   SAE System Architecture Evolution    -   SAP Service Access Point    -   SAPD Service Access Point Descriptor    -   SAPI Service Access Point Identifier    -   SCC Secondary Component Carrier, Secondary CC    -   SCell Secondary Cell    -   SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access    -   SCG Secondary Cell Group    -   SCM Security Context Management    -   SCS Subcarrier Spacing    -   SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol    -   SDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol, Service Data Adaptation        Protocol layer    -   SDL Supplementary Downlink    -   SDNF Structured Data Storage Network Function    -   SDP Service Discovery Protocol (Bluetooth related)    -   SDSF Structured Data Storage Function    -   SDU Service Data Unit    -   SEAF Security Anchor Function    -   SeNB secondary eNB    -   SEPP Security Edge Protection Proxy    -   SFI Slot format indication    -   SFTD Space-Frequency Time Diversity, SFN and frame timing        difference    -   SFN System Frame Number    -   SgNB Secondary gNB    -   SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node    -   S-GW Serving Gateway    -   SI System Information    -   SI-RNTI System Information RNTI    -   SIB System Information Block    -   SIM Subscriber Identity Module    -   SIP Session Initiated Protocol    -   SiP System in Package    -   SL Sidelink    -   SLA Service Level Agreement    -   SM Session Management    -   SMF Session Management Function    -   SMS Short Message Service    -   SMSF SMS Function    -   SMTC SSB-based Measurement Timing Configuration    -   SN Secondary Node, Sequence Number    -   SoC System on Chip    -   SON Self-Organizing Network    -   SpCell Special Cell    -   SP-CSI-RNTI Semi-Persistent CSI RNTI    -   SPS Semi-Persistent Scheduling    -   SQN Sequence number    -   SR Scheduling Request    -   SRB Signalling Radio Bearer    -   SRS Sounding Reference Signal    -   SS Synchronization Signal    -   SSB Synchronization Signal Block, SS/PBCH Block    -   SSBRI SS/PBCH Block Resource Indicator, Synchronization Signal        Block Resource Indicator    -   SSC Session and Service Continuity    -   SS-RSRP Synchronization Signal based Reference Signal Received        Power    -   SS-RSRQ Synchronization Signal based Reference Signal Received.        Quality    -   SS-SINR Synchronization Signal based Signal to Noise and        Interference Ratio    -   SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal    -   SSSG Search Space Set Group    -   SSSIF Search Space Set Indicator    -   SST Slice/Service Types    -   SU-MIMO Single User MIMO    -   SUL Supplementary Uplink    -   TA Timing Advance, Tracking Area    -   TAC Tracking Area. Code    -   TAG Timing Advance Group    -   TAU Tracking Area Update    -   TB Transport Block    -   TBS Transport Block Size    -   TBD To Be Defined    -   TCI Transmission Configuration Indicator    -   TCP Transmission Communication Protocol    -   TDD Time Division Duplex    -   TDM Time Division Multiplexing    -   TDMA Time Division Multiple Access    -   TE Terminal Equipment    -   TEID Tunnel End Point Identifier    -   TFT Traffic Flow Template    -   TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity    -   TNL Transport Network Layer    -   TPC Transmit Power Control    -   TPMI Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator    -   TR Technical Report    -   TRP, TRxP Transmission Reception Point    -   TRS Tracking Reference Signal    -   TRx Transceiver    -   TS Technical Specifications, Technical Standard    -   TTI Transmission Time Interval    -   Tx Transmission, Transmitting, Transmitter    -   U-RNTI UTRAN Radio Network Temporary Identity    -   UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter    -   UCI Uplink Control Information    -   UE User Equipment    -   UDM Unified Data Management    -   UDP User Datagram Protocol    -   UDSF Unstructured Data Storage Network Function    -   UICC Universal Integrated Circuit Card    -   UL Uplink    -   UM Unacknowledged Mode    -   UML Unified Modelling Language    -   UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System    -   UP User Plane    -   UPF User Plane Function    -   URI Uniform Resource Identifier    -   URL Uniform Resource Locator    -   URLLC Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency    -   USB Universal Serial Bus    -   USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module    -   USS UE-specific search space    -   UTRA UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access    -   UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network    -   UwPTS Uplink Pilot Time Slot    -   V2I Vehicle-to-Infrastruction    -   V2P Vehicle-to-Pedestrian    -   V2V Vehicle-to-Vehicle    -   V2X Vehicle-to-everything    -   VIM Virtualized Infrastructure Manager    -   VL Virtual Link,    -   VLAN Virtual LAN, Virtual Local Area Network    -   VM Virtual Machine    -   VNF Virtualized Network Function    -   VNFFG VNF Forwarding Graph    -   VNFFGD VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor    -   VNFM VNF Manager    -   VoIP Voice-over-IP, Voice-over-Internet Protocol    -   VPLMN Visited Public Land Mobile Network    -   VPN Virtual Private Network    -   VRB Virtual Resource Block    -   WiMAX Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access    -   WLAN Wireless Local Area Network    -   WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area Network    -   WPAN Wireless Personal Area Network    -   X2-C X2-Control plane    -   X2-U X2-User plane    -   XRES eXtensible Markup Language    -   XRES EXpected user RESponse    -   XOR eXclusive OR    -   ZC Zadoff-Chu    -   ZP Zero Power

Terminology

For the purposes of the present document, the following terms anddefinitions are applicable to the examples and embodiments discussedherein, but are not meant to be limiting.

The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includeshardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, aprocessor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared,dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC),a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array(FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), ahigh-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC),digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are configured to providethe described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry mayexecute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at leastsome of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also referto a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination ofcircuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the programcode used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In theseembodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code maybe referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, orincludes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carryingout a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording,storing, and/or transferring digital data. The term “processorcircuitry” may refer to one or more application processors, one or morebaseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), asingle-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, aquad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing orotherwise operating computer-executable instructions, such as programcode, software modules, and/or functional processes. The terms“application circuitry” and/or “baseband circuitry” may be consideredsynonymous to, and may be referred to as, “processor circuitry.”

The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, orincludes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between twoor more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may referto one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I/O interfaces,peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, and/or thelike.

The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device withradio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user ofnetwork resources in a communications network. The term “user equipment”or “UE” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as,client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobileunit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station,access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurableradio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, theterm “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wireddevice or any computing device including a wireless communicationsinterface.

The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical orvirtualized equipment and/or infrastructure used to provide wired orwireless communication network services. The term “network element” maybe considered synonymous to and/or referred to as a networked computer,networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch,hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway,server, virtualized INF, NFVI, and/or the like.

The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any typeinterconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or componentsthereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” and/or “system” mayrefer to various components of a computer that are communicativelycoupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” and/or“system” may refer to multiple computer devices and/or multiplecomputing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another andconfigured to share computing and/or networking resources.

The term “appliance,” “computer appliance,” or the like, as used hereinrefers to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g.,software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide aspecific computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machineimage to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizesor emulates a computer appliance or otherwise is dedicated to provide aspecific computing resource.

The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtualdevice, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment,and/or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, suchas computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor/CPUtime, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardwaretime or usage, electrical power, input/output operations, ports ornetwork sockets, channel/link allocation, throughput, memory usage,storage, network, database and applications, workload units, and/or thelike. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/ornetwork resources provided by physical hardware element(s). A“virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or networkresources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application,device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communicationresource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computerdevices/systems via a communications network. The term “systemresources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services,and may include computing and/or network resources. System resources maybe considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects orservices, accessible through a server where such system resources resideon a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium,either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or adata stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with and/or equivalentto “communications channel,” “data communications channel,”“transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,”“data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radiofrequencycarrier,” and/or any other like term denoting a pathway or mediumthrough which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” asused herein refers to a connection between two devices through a RAT forthe purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

The terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like as used hereinrefers to the creation of an instance. An “instance” also refers to aconcrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code.

The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” along with derivativesthereof are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another,may mean that two or more elements indirectly contact each other butstill cooperate or interact with each other, and/or may mean that one ormore other elements are coupled or connected between the elements thatare said to be coupled with each other. The term “directly coupled” maymean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another.The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elementsmay be in contact with one another by a means of communication includingthrough a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wirelesscommunication channel or ink, and/or the like.

The term “information element” refers to a structural element containingone or more fields. The term “field” refers to individual contents of aninformation element, or a data element that contains content.

The term “SMTC” refers to an SSB-based measurement timing configurationconfigured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

The term “SSB” refers to an SS/PBCH block.

The term “a “Primary Cell” refers to the MCG cell, operating on theprimary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initialconnection establishment procedure or initiates the connectionre-establishment procedure.

The term “Primary SCG Cell” refers to the SCG cell in which the HEperforms random access when performing the Reconfiguration with Syncprocedure for DC operation.

The term “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell providing additional radioresources on top of a Special Cell for a UE configured with CA.

The term “Secondary Cell Group” refers to the subset of serving cellscomprising the PSCell and zero or more secondary cells for a UEconfigured with DC.

The term “Serving Cell” refers to the primary cell for a UE inRRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC there is only one serving cellcomprising of the primary cell.

The term “serving cell” or “serving cells” refers to the set of cellscomprising the Special Cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE inRRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/.

The term “Special Cell” refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell ofthe SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term “Special Cell” refers tothe Pcell.

As described above, aspects of the present technology may include thegathering and use of data available from various sources, e.g., toimprove or enhance functionality. The present disclosure contemplatesthat in some instances, this gathered data may include personalinformation data that uniquely identifies or can be used to contact orlocate a specific person. Such personal information data can includedemographic data, location-based data, telephone numbers, emailaddresses, Twitter ID's, home addresses, data or records relating to auser's health or level of fitness (e.g., vital signs measurements,medication information, exercise information), date of birth, or anyother identifying or personal information. The present disclosurerecognizes that the use of such personal information data, in thepresent technology, may be used to the benefit of users.

The present disclosure contemplates that the entities responsible forthe collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage, or other use ofsuch personal information data will comply with well-established privacypolicies and/or privacy practices. In particular, such entities shouldimplement and consistently use privacy policies and practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining personal information data private andsecure. Such policies should be easily accessible by users, and shouldbe updated as the collection and/or use of data changes. Personalinformation from users should be collected for legitimate and reasonableuses of the entity and not shared or sold outside of those legitimateuses. Further, such collection/sharing should only occur after receivingthe informed consent of the users. Additionally, such entities shouldconsider taking any needed steps for safeguarding and securing access tosuch personal information data and ensuring that others with access tothe personal information data adhere to their privacy policies andprocedures. Further, such entities can subject themselves to evaluationby third parties to certify their adherence to widely accepted privacypolicies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should beadapted for the particular types of personal information data beingcollected and/or accessed and adapted to applicable laws and standards,including jurisdiction-specific considerations. For instance, in the US,collection of, or access to, certain health data may be governed byfederal and/or state laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability andAccountability Act (HIPAA); whereas health data in other countries maybe subject to other regulations and policies and should be handledaccordingly. Hence different privacy practices should be maintained fordifferent personal data types in each country.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplatesembodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to,personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplatesthat hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent orblock access to such personal information data. For example, the presenttechnology may be configurable to allow users to selectively “opt in” or“opt out” of participation in the collection of personal informationdata, e.g., during registration for services or anytime thereafter. Inaddition to providing “opt in” and “opt out” options, the presentdisclosure contemplates providing notifications relating to the accessor use of personal information. For instance, a user may be notifiedupon downloading an app that their personal information data will beaccessed and then reminded again just before personal information datais accessed by the app.

Moreover, it is the intent of the present disclosure that personalinformation data should be managed and handled in a way to minimizerisks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Risk can beminimized by limiting the collection of data and deleting data once itis no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including incertain health related applications, data de-identification can be usedto protect a user's privacy. De-identification may be facilitated, whenappropriate, by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth,etc.), controlling the amount or specificity of data stored (e.g.,collecting location data a city level rather than at an address level),controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data across users),and/or other methods.

Therefore, although the present disclosure may broadly cover use ofpersonal information data to implement one or more various disclosedembodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the variousembodiments can also be implemented without the need for accessing suchpersonal information data. That is, the various embodiments of thepresent technology are not rendered inoperable due to the lack of all ora portion of such personal information data.

1. A method for allocating one or more resources in an integrated accessand backhaul (IAB) network, comprising: defining, by a first IAB node, aper-link semi-static configuration of availability of resources toprovide a specific configuration of resource availability for childlinks in a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB network; aligning theavailability of resources of the first IAB node and a second IAB nodebased on the per-link semi-static configuration of the availability ofresources; determining, by the first IAB node, a status of theavailability of resources to be one of a not available resource (NA), ahard resource (H), and a soft resource (S); and signaling, by the firstIAB node, the status to an other DU in the IAB network.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the defining the per-link semi-static configurationcomprises allocating one or more of an uplink resource, a downlinkresource, and a flexible resource.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein thedefining the per-link semi-static configuration further comprisesdefining flexible resource availability to explicitly include one ormore of a flexible downlink resource indication, a flexible uplinkindication, and a not available indication.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the defining the per-link semi-static configuration furthercomprises defining flexible resource availability to implicitly includeone or more of a flexible downlink resource indication, a flexibleuplink indication, and a not available indication.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first IAB node is the DU.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the defining the per-link semi-static configuration comprisesdefining availability of one or more resources of the first IAB node. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the defining the per-link semi-staticconfiguration comprises defining availability of one or more resourcesof the second IAB node.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the definingthe per-link semi-static configuration comprises defining availabilityof at least one of the resources by an implicit indication.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the defining the per-link semi-staticconfiguration comprises allocating one or more of a hard-uplinkresource, a hard-downlink resource, a hard-flexible resource, asoft-uplink resource, a soft-downlink resource, and a soft-flexibleresource.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the defining the per-linksemi-static configuration comprises: providing an indication ofavailability of a hard-downlink resource, a hard-uplink resource, ahard-flexible resource, a soft-downlink resource, a soft-uplinkresource, and a soft-flexible resource.
 11. The method of claim 1,wherein the defining the per-link semi-static configuration comprisesdefining a configuration pattern that indicates a sequence oftime-domain resource or frequency domain resource utilization of the DU.12. A system for allocating resources of a distributed unit (DU) in anintegrated access and backhaul (IAB) network, comprising: a memory thatstores a configuration of availability of resources of the DU; aprocessor coupled to the memory, configured to define resourceavailability of the DU based on the configuration of the availability ofresources; a transmitter coupled to the processor, configured totransmit a signal via the IAB network based on the configuration of theavailability of resources; and a receiver coupled to the processor,configured to receive a signal via the IAB network based on theconfiguration of the availability of resources.
 13. The system of claim12, wherein the configuration of the availability of resources comprisesan availability indication of one or more of an uplink resource, adownlink resource, and a flexible resource.
 14. The system of claim 13,wherein the availability indication of the flexible resource comprisesan explicit allocation of one or more of a flexible downlink resourceindication, a flexible uplink indication, and a not availableindication.
 15. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to allocate resource availability of an other DU based on theconfiguration of the availability of resources.
 16. The system of claim12, wherein the configuration of the availability of resources comprisesa configuration pattern that indicates a sequence of resourceutilization of the DU.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium storing instructions that when executed by one or more processorsof one or more integrated access and backhaul (IAB) distributed units(DUs), cause the one or more processors to perform operations, theoperations comprising: defining a per-link semi-static configuration ofavailability of resources to provide a specific configuration ofresource availability for child links in a first IAB DU; aligning theavailability of resources of the one or more IAB DUs based on theper-link semi-static configuration of the availability of resources;determining a status of the availability of resources to be one of a notavailable resource (NA), a hard resource (H), and a soft resource (S);and signaling the status to a second IAB DU.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein one or more of theresources comprise an availability indication of one or more of anuplink resource, a downlink resource, and a flexible resource.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein theoperations further comprise: defining an availability of resources ofthe second DU based on the configuration of availability of resources.20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17,wherein the defining the per-link semi-static configuration operationcomprises: defining a configuration pattern that indicates a sequence ofavailability of resources for the one or more IAB DUs.